Poll: Majority of Americans Favor Citizenship for Illegal Immigrants

Most Americans think illegal immigrants should be able to stay in the United States and apply for citizenship, according to a new CBS News poll.

The 51 percent who favor a path to citizenship represents a 9 percentage point increase from February 2012. Also at that point, 30 percent wanted illegals to leave while 22 percent favored allowing them to stay as guest workers.

The new survey, conducted between last Thursday and Sunday, shows that 24 percent of Americans believe illegals should leave the country and 20 percent think they should be allowed to stay as guest workers.

A breakdown of the figures shows that among Republicans, 35 percent support citizenship, 36 percent want illegals out of the country, and 25 percent would have them stay as guest workers.

Among independents, 47 percent favor citizenship, 27 percent think illegals should leave the country, and 20 percent believe they should be allowed to stay as guest workers.

But 66 percent of Democrats back citizenship, 13 percent think illegals should leave, and 17 percent believe they should be allowed to stay as guest workers.