An eye-opening new immigration reform poll released Tuesday by the Washington Post and ABC News revealed America's overall attitude on the complex issue that seems to have stalled on Capitol Hill lately.
Controversy has surrounded immigration reform like an impenetrable fog since the "Gang of Eight" U.S. Senators introduced their comprehensive reform bill. But the controversy seems to be affecting the politicians involved in the fight more than the U.S. citizens those politicians are ostensibly working for.
When asked to consider what they knew about the Senate reform bill, specifically the key tenets of border control and a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants, 46 percent of the poll's respondents said they supported it, while 44 percent opposed.
The immigration law is now in the hands of the House of Representatives. When asked how they would prefer the House handle the issue, over half said they'd prefer the bill be broken down into individual pieces for passage, while just 32 percent were in favor of an up-or-down vote.
According to a report from The Hill, President Barack Obama has been outspoken in cautioning against an approach that would split up the the bill for separate votes. Obama warns that such a tactic could prolong or even prevent the passage of important elements of the bill.
A major hurdle in getting the Senate bill passed in the House was the inclusion of a provision that would create a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S.
The House firmly opposes the provision and has made it clear that it would not pass any legislation that included such a plan.
However, 50 percent of those polled said they would be disappointed if the path to citizenship was not included in the bill. Breaking that 50 percent down by race: 41 percent of whites, 57 percent of African-Americans and 83 percent of Hispanics would be dissappointed if the path to citizenship section was left out.
Respondents were then asked who they would blame if the path to citizenship stipulation were abandoned: Obama, for not winning the needed votes, or the Republicans in the House for leading the opposition. By a 63-20 landslide, the numbers indicate that most would hold Republicans responsible.
According to a report from the Washington Post, Republican leaders have highlighted Hispanic outreach as a key part of their strategy for taking the White House in 2016. How the Republican-led House moves forward with immigration reform law could make it or break it for the party in the next election.
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