Deportation Is Widely Opposed – Even Among Republicans
A just-released POLITICO/Morning Consult poll finds the vast majority of Americans support allowing undocumented immigrants to stay in the U.S., in direct opposition with President Trump’s move today ending DACA, after a six-month period starting now.
Ending DACA ultimately places DREAMers – undocumented immigrants who were brought to America by the parents as children – on the road to deportation.
Almost six out of 10 Americans (58%) say DREAMers should be allowed a path to citizenship. An additional 18 percent say they should be allowed to stay as legal residents, but not be given citizenship. Combined, that means one out of four Americans (75%) say undocumented immigrants should be granted legal protections.
Just 15 percent say they should be deported.
That’s a stunningly low number, and explains why the nation today is upset with Trump’s latest move.
“Just 24 percent of Republicans, 12 percent of independents and 8 percent of Democrats say that Dreamers should be deported,” says Morning Consult Co-founder and Chief Research Officer Kyle Dropp.
Surprisingly, even among Trump’s base, just 26 percent say DREAMers should be deported.
Late Tuesday afternoon President Trump told reporters he has “a great heart” and “a great love” for DREAMers, who he called “these people.”
But a White House set of DACA talking points, according to the Center for American Progress, actually calls on DREAMers to self-deport:
It literally says DREAMers should use the time they have remaining “to prepare for and arrange for their departure from the U.S.”
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Image by Harrie van Veen via Flickr and a CC licenseÂ