This Aug 15, 2012 file photo shows applicants waiting in Casa de Maryland in Langley Park, Md., before they can apply for the Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals, as the US started accepting applications to allow them to avoid deportation and get a work permit — but not a path to citizenship. – AP Photo

WASHINGTON: More than six in 10 Americans now favour allowing illegal immigrants to eventually become US citizens, a major increase in support driven by a turnaround in Republicans’ opinions after the 2012 elections.    

The finding, in a new Associated Press-GfK poll, comes as the Republican Party seeks to increase its meager support among Latino voters, who turned out in large numbers to help-re-elect President Barack Obama in November.

Emboldened by the overwhelming Hispanic backing and by shifting attitudes on immigration, Obama has made overhauling laws about who can legally live in the US a centerpiece of his second-term agenda.

In the coming weeks, he is expected to aggressively push for ways to create an eventual pathway to citizenship for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already in this country.

The poll results suggest that the public overall, not just Hispanics, will back his efforts.

Sixty-two per cent of Americans now favour providing a way for illegal immigrants in the US to become citizens, an increase from just 50 per cent in the summer of 2010, the last time the AP polled on the question.

In an even earlier poll, in 2009, some 47 per cent supported a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

Further boosting the president on the issue, Democrats have opened a 41 per cent to 34 per cent advantage as the party more trusted to handle immigration, the first time they have held a significant edge on the matter in AP-GfK polling.

In October 2010, Republicans held a slight edge over Democrats, 46 per cent to 41 per cent, on the question of who was more trusted on immigration.

Much of the increase in support for a path to eventual citizenship has come among Republicans. A majority in the Republican Party – 53 per cent – now favour the change. That is up a striking 22 percentage points from 2010.

Seventy-two per cent of Democrats and 55 per cent of independents like the idea, similar to 2010.

The findings suggest that those Republican lawmakers weighing support for eventual legal status for illegal immigrants could be rewarded politically not just by Democrats and independents but also by some in their own party as well.

This comes amid soul-searching in the party about how the Republicans can broaden their support with Latinos, who backed Obama over Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, 71 per cent to 27 per cent, in November.

Romney received less support from Latinos than Republican President George W. Bush did. But his slice was on par with candidates Bob Dole in 1996 and George H.W. Bush in 1992.

Some Republicans have concluded that backing comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship is becoming a political necessity.

Many lawmakers remain strongly opposed, and it’s far from clear whether Congress will ultimately sign off on such an approach.

But in the Senate, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is working to draft immigration legislation, and Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican and a possible 2016 presidential candidate, has offered proposals that would ultimately allow illegal immigrants to attain legal status.

One poll participant, Nick Nanos, 66, said that providing a way for illegal immigrants to become citizens would respect America’s history as a nation built by immigrants.

“We act as if our grandparents got here legally. Don’t want to ask a single Indian about that,” Nanos said in a follow-up interview. “I don’t think that most of us can solidly come to a point where our grandparents or great-grandparents or great-great-grandparents were here legally. What does that even mean?”

Overall, 54 per cent in the poll said immigration is an important issue to them personally, a figure that’s remained steady over the past couple of years.

Republicans aren’t the only group whose views have shifted significantly. In August of 2010, just 39 per cent of seniors favoured a path to citizenship. Now, 55 per cent do.

Among those without a college degree, support has increased from 45 per cent to 57 per cent. And 59 per cent of whites now favour a way for illegal immigrants to gain citizenship, up from 44 per cent in August 2010, and 41 per cent in September 2009.

Overall, the poll found 35 per cent strongly favoured allowing illegal immigrants to become citizens over time, while 27 per cent favoured the idea somewhat.

Just 35 per cent of Americans opposed the approach, with 23 per cent strongly opposed and 12 per cent somewhat opposed. That compared with 48 per cent opposed in 2010 and 50 per cent in 2009.

The Associated Press-GfK Poll was conducted Jan 10-14, 2013, by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cellphone interviews with 1,004 adults nationwide. Results for the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus four percentage points; the margin is larger for subgroups.