A poll taken last week shows that a vast majority of Americans do not have as strict views on immigrants as President-elect Donald Trump. There are many of them who voted for him.
The poll found that Americans overwhelmingly believe that deportations should focus on immigrants who commit violent crimes, that those who are persecuted should be protected and that families should be kept intact.
The survey among 1,200 adults was conducted on December 3–7 by the National Immigration Forum, which cooperates with the business community, police and clergy in activities for immigrants.
There are estimates 11 million illegal immigrants in the USA. Trump has he has vowed to deport millions, and his allies say he will “tighten the border.”
Respondents were asked whether they believed deportation efforts should focus on “violent criminals and persons subject to final removal orders” or on “all persons without legal status, including those who are otherwise law-abiding and the family is a U.S. citizen.”
Two-thirds (66%) said the focus should be on violent criminals and people on deportation orders, and 34% said efforts should target all undocumented immigrants.
These sentiments were remarkably consistent across political ideologies. Among self-described liberals, 69% said deportations should apply to violent criminals and people who have received final removal orders. 66% of moderates and 65% of self-described conservatives did the same.
However, deportations of people with criminal convictions or final expulsion orders are nothing novel and date back to this century. peaked under Obama and then collapse under Trump and Biden. Regarding criminal deportations, these numbers also peaked under Obama.
Many immigrants come in search of economic opportunities. But many of their indigent countries are also torn apart dysfunctional, oppressive governments, corruption AND gang violence. Last month, two leaders of the Haitian community in Springfield said that if someone has a good job there, that fact alone is a reason why criminal gangs target them.
A National Immigration Forum poll conducted last week tried to find out whether Americans believe people who escape such circumstances should be deported. They were asked whether they agreed that “consistent with American values, family unity, respect for human dignity, and protection of the persecuted must remain key priorities as the government increases border security and border enforcement.”
Of all respondents, 73% agreed with this statement rather or strongly.
Again, ideological differences were minor. Of self-identified liberals, 78% agreed. Of moderates, 72% agreed. This was identical to the rate at which conservatives agreed.
The results may appear to contradict those of a separate survey conducted in October – or at least show cognitive dissonance about immigrants among some Americans.
– asked a survey conducted by the Institute for Research on Public Religion “Whether you agree with it or not the immigrants who come to the country today are poisoning the blood of our country?”
As many as 61% of Republicans agreed with this statement. This is in stark contrast to 33% of independents and just 13% of Democrats.
The same survey found a 50-point difference between Republicans and Democrats on how urgent immigration is for the country.
