Just a week before the Senate votes for a final compromise on immigration reform, a new Pew Research Center poll finds that border security continues to be a contentious issue among Americans and legislators.
This data comes after the Senators’ announcement on Thursday about the “border surge” plan, a new border security deal that would double the size of the border patrol to 20,000 new agents, require 700 miles of border fencing and require a high tech comprehensive border security plan including surveillance drones, seismic imaging, and long range thermal energy cameras.
“We have, if this legislation passes in the form that it is, with the amendment as we’ve agreed, we have secured the border,” said Republican Sen. Bob Corker on Thursday. “We are investing resources and securing the border in ways that have never been introduced before,” he added.
According to the study, an estimated 43% of Americans say that undocumented immigrants should only be allowed to seek legal status after the border is secured. But almost 49% agree with the Senate Gang of Eight: undocumented immigrants should be able to pursue a path to citizenship while border security improvements are being made.
The study suggests that while there is still broad support for immigration reform, the majority of Americans believe undocumented immigrants should meet certain requirements before they are allowed to stay in the U.S. legally. Today, Senators will cast their first vote on the new border security amendment today to decide whether to proceed to debate the bill.
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