Sixty-four percent of U.S. voters say they are in favor of resolving the legal status of the country's estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants and providing them with a path to citizenship, according to a survey released Friday.
The Quinnipiac University survey indicates that only 31 percent of Americans are opposed to this measure, requested by President Barack Obama and incorporated into the immigration reform plan passed by the Senate in June.
Obama wants the Senate and House of Representatives to reach an agreement on immigration before the end of the year, which would settle a matter that, despite having been debated on several occasions in the past, the last time in 2007, Congress has not yet managed to resolve.
With the Senate proposal already approved, pressure is now on the Republican-controlled House, which is unlikely to come up with a bill similar to the Senate's since important conservative leaders have already said they will not use it as a basis for their own bill.
"The public supports the immigration bill 2-1 and shows unusual agreement given the divisions in the country on many other issues," Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said.
"It seems the only group divided on this issue is Congress," he added.
Lawmakers go on vacation Friday and will be away for the next five weeks, so any action on this matter will have to wait at least until Sept. 9.
Citizenship for the undocumented is coming up against a number of stumbling blocks in the House, where several conservative congressmen are unwilling to approve a measure they say would reward those who break the law.
