Poll:GOP voters back 2-tier immigration

Despite vocal conservative opposition to any kind of amnesty for illegal immigrants, a large majority of likely Republican voters support a two-tier approach that strengthens enforcement while providing a path to citizenship, according to a new poll released Thursday.

And they want action this year, even as Congress loses enthusiasm for tackling the contentious issue with an election months away.

The Tarrance Group, a GOP polling firm, conducted the national survey of 800 registered, likely voters June 12-15 for the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, a conservative think tank.

Three-quarters of the voters favored a policy that reflects Senate legislation.

It would create a system that allows illegal immigrants to come forward, pay a fine and receive a temporary worker permit; and provide these temporary workers with a multi-year path to citizenship if they are put behind others who have applied before them, don't commit crimes, learn English and pay taxes. The proposal also calls for increasing border security and imposing tougher penalties on employers who hire illegal workers.

Forty-nine percent said they did not view this policy as amnesty, while 39 percent said it is amnesty.

The poll found that 47 percent of likely voters supported an immigration reform proposal similar to that backed by the House, while 46 percent said they opposed the House measures.

That legislation calls for increased border security, tougher penalties on employers and workers who violate immigration laws, and an expanded guest worker program that would allow people to work in the country temporarily but generally bans bids for citizenship by illegal workers in the country now.

Although Congress appears unlikely to pass an immigration measure before the mid-term elections in November, 95 percent of voters said it is important that Congress solve the immigration problem this year.

Read this about the same poll ?