A notable majority of likely voters agree with President Barack Obama's recently announced decision to halt the deportation of certain young illegal immigrants, according to the results of a Bloomberg News poll released on Tuesday.
The poll showed that 64 percent of likely voters agree with the change in immigration policy, while 30 percent disagree. Another six percent said they were not sure.
The new policy, announced by Obama last Friday, would halt the deportation of illegal immigrants under the age of 30 if they came to the country before age 16, have been in the country for at least five years, have no criminal record, and are in school, have a high school diploma or served in the military.
Support for the new policy was divided along party lines. While 86 percent of Democrats support the new policy, 56 percent of Republicans are opposed.
Meanwhile, the poll found that 66 percent of coveted independent voters agreed with the change in policy, while 26 percent disagreed.
The results of the poll reflect a challenge facing Republicans, who are looking to increase support among Hispanic voters but generally take a hard-line stance regarding illegal immigration.
In an interview with CBS on Sunday, Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney would not say if he would repeal the decision if elected president, although he claimed Obama's motivation for the policy change was purely political.
The release of the poll results also comes a day after Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., abandoned plans to introduce legislation that would grant work visas to some young people who entered the U.S. illegally.
The survey of 734 likely voters was conducted June 15th through 18th and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points. The poll was conducted for Bloomberg News by Selzer & Co.
by RTT Staff Writer
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