A new poll conducted by the National Journal shows that around 60 percent of the country’s Republicans are happy about the Senate bill that would permit the country’s undocumented immigrants to obtain US citizenship. This is one of the provisions of the Senate bill that most Republican lawmakers reject.
18 percent of the Republicans want the US Congress to pass the Senate immigration reform bill and 42 percent of them want the US Congress to include tougher border security provisions to the bill and pass it. There are some who want the US Congress to pass the Senate bill but are against the path to US citizenship.
If the US Congress passes the bill that the US Senate has approved, undocumented immigrants who are living in the country would get an opportunity to become US citizens. But this would not happen immediately and they need to wait for 13 long years to apply for citizenship. Prior to applying for citizenship, they need to establish that they are good in English, pay fines and undergo background checks.
According to the National Journal, 59 percent of the Americans are in favor of the Senate bill and only 13 percent of the Americans are against the bill. Those who are against the bill are also against the path to citizenship that the bill would create.
The National Journal, that conducted the poll, included more options and it did not only ask the US citizens whether they support immigration reform. This poll shows that the Republicans want the US Congress to do something about immigration.
However, House Speaker John Boehner, says that the House will work in a step-by-step way and pass smaller reform bills. He also stated that the country will not have real immigration reform if the lawmakers fail to secure the country’s border.