Washington ? A strong majority of Americans – including nearly two-thirds of Republicans – favors allowing illegal immigrants to become citizens if they pay fines, learn English and meet other requirements, a new Los Angeles Times/ Bloomberg poll has found.

That is a striking show of support for the central tenet of legislation that has stalled in the Senate amid vocal opposition from conservatives to provisions allowing such a path to citizenship.

Only 23 percent of adults surveyed opposed allowing immigrants to become legal. That bolsters the view, shared by President Bush, that the bill’s opponents represent a vocal minority.

“They are willing to take jobs that our people aren’t interested in, and I think this helps the economy,” Joseph Simpkins, a retired dry cleaner in New Jersey who participated in the survey, said in a follow-up interview. “As long as they pay taxes, I see nothing wrong with having them become citizens.”

The survey was conducted Thursday through Sunday; 1,183 adults were surveyed by telephone. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.