<p style="text-indent:0px; line-height:12px;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Washington D.C.-</span><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">By ANUK Staff<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">1.25.13</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>More than 6 in 10 Americans favor allowing illegal immigrants to become U.S. citizens according to an Associated Press-GfK poll.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The increase in support is driven by a turnaround in Republicans’ opinions after the 2012 elections, which represent an effort to increase the party’s support among Latino voters, a constituent that played a key role in President Obama’s re-election.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Emboldened by heavy Hispanic support and by shifting attitudes on immigration, Obama has made overhauling laws about who can legally live in the U.S. a centerpiece of his second-term agenda. In the coming weeks, he’s expected to aggressively push for ways to create an eventual pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already in this country.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><img src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacyWriterImages/ap_poll_012413.jpg" alt="Images012513" /><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The poll results suggest that the public overall, not just Hispanics, will back his efforts. Sixty-two percent of Americans now favor providing a way for illegal immigrants in the U.S. to become citizens, up from just 50 percent in the summer of 2010, the last time the AP polled on the question.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Much of the increase in support for a path to eventual citizenship has come among Republicans. A majority in the GOP — 53 percent — now favor the change. That’s up a striking 22 percentage points from 2010. Seventy-two percent of Democrats and 55 percent of independents like the idea, not far from 2010 figures.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Some Republicans have concluded that backing comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship is becoming a political necessity. Many lawmakers remain strongly opposed, and it’s far from clear whether Congress will ultimately sign off on such an approach.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">One poll participant, Nick Nanos, 66, of Bellmore, N.Y., said that providing a way for illegal immigrants to become citizens would respect America’s history as a nation built by immigrants.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>“We act as if our grandparents got here legally. Don’t want to ask a single Indian about that,” Nanos said.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Cordel Welch, 41, of Los Angeles, was among those poll participants who believes illegal immigrants brought to the country as children should be treated differently from people who came here as adults. </p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>“The ones that were brought here by their parents, they’re already here, they’re already established,” Welch said in an interview. “The adults should go through the process.”</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Melissa Johnson, 40, of Porter, Texas, disagreed.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>“I think there were generations of people that came over here legally, and just because your parents snuck you in or snuck in while pregnant with you doesn’t give you automatic citizenship,” she said. “I think they should send them all back home.”<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">The Associated Press-GfK Poll was conducted Jan. 10-14, 2013, by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved land line and cellphone interviews with 1,004 adults nationwide. Results for the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points; the margin is larger for subgroups.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href=" http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=170000696" target="_new">NPR </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
