Voters Support Recapturing Unused Green Cards and Modernizing Immigration Avenues
By Anika Dandekar, Analyst, Data for Progress; Isa Alomran, Analyst, Data for Progress; Ethan Winter, Senior Analyst, Data for Progress
From September 29 to October 1, 2021, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 1,299 likely voters nationally to measure support for a range of immigration reforms, including recapturing unused green cards and modernizing legal immigration avenues for high-skilled immigrants. Our polling in June showed voters across party lines support creating a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, farmworkers, and essential workers with a +47-point margin.
Now, we have found that likely voters support recapturing unused green cards by a +22-point margin (55 percent support, 33 percent oppose). Likely voters that self-identify as Democrats and Independents support recapturing unused green cards by margins of +53 points and +20 points, respectively. Forty percent of Republicans support recapturing unused green cards and 50 percent oppose it.
We also tested two messages in favor of recapturing unused green cards: one noting that this policy has historically enjoyed bipartisan support, and another highlighting its economic benefits. We find that both messages are effective in increasing support. Likely voters that self-identify as Republicans become more supportive when told that Republican lawmakers have previously supported this policy. Independents, meanwhile, become much more supportive when told about the policy’s economic benefits.
By a +36-point margin, likely voters support creating simpler avenues for high-skilled immigrants to obtain permanent residency. Democrats, Independents, and Republicans support this proposal by margins of +64 points, +26 points, and +17 points, respectively.
Anika Dandekar is a polling analyst at Data for Progress.
Isa Alomran is a polling analyst at Data for Progress.
Ethan Winter (@EthanBWinter) is a senior analyst at Data for Progress. You can email him at ethan@dataforprogress.org.
Methodology
From September 29 to October 1, 2021, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 1,299 likely voters nationally using web panel respondents. The sample was weighted to be representative of likely voters by age, gender, education, race, and voting history. The survey was conducted in English. The margin of error is ±3 percentage points.
Toplines for this polling can be found here.