“A new poll conducted January 29 to February 1 by Vox and Data for Progress (DFP) found that a majority of 1,124 likely voters and an overwhelming proportion of Democrats “strongly” or “somewhat” supported offering a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants broadly (69 percent and 86 percent, respectively). That support jumps to 72 percent of likely voters and 87 percent of Democrats if you ask them specifically about “DREAMers” who were brought to the US as children. Those findings are consistent with other recent surveys on legalization, including one conducted by Pew in June 2020.
As part of his proposal for comprehensive immigration reform, President Joe Biden has called for creating an eight-year earned path to citizenship for immigrants who were present in the US on or before January 1, 2021, and can pass a background check and pay taxes.
However, it is unlikely to survive in its current form given that it would have to attract 10 Republican votes to proceed in the Senate — where some members have already decried it as “mass amnesty” and criticized its lack of border security provisions — unless Democrats can eliminate the filibuster. While Republicans’ declarations don’t generally reflect American attitudes about legalizing undocumented immigrants, polling has shown that the public does favor certain measures to increase border security, including upping the number of border agents.
Piecemeal legislation to legalize at least some groups of undocumented immigrants might have a better chance at passing.”