According to a new poll by Harvard–Harris Poll given to The Hill has discovered that Americans overwhelmingly oppose sanctuary cities.
The poll states that a whopping 80 percent of voters believe that local law enforcement should comply with Federal immigration laws, and immigration enforcement agents. Furthermore, Americans believe that our immigrations laws need an overhaul, and that criminals need to be deported.
The Harvard–Harris Poll survey found strong support for an overhaul of the nation's immigration laws, with 77 percent saying they support comprehensive immigration reform against only 23 percent who oppose.“While there is broad support for comprehensive immigration reform, there is overwhelming opposition to sanctuary cities,” said Harvard–Harris co-director Mark Penn. “The public wants honest immigrants treated fairly and those who commit crimes deported and that's very clear from the data.”
What's more, the majority of Americans seem to approve of Trump's plans for more security on our southern border, including punishing cities that harbor illegal aliens.
A majority — 52 percent — say they support Trump’s two executive orders allowing for the construction of a southern border wall, increasing the number of immigration officers by 10,000 and finding a way to revoke federal funds for sanctuary cities.The crackdown on sanctuary cities is the most popular feature of those actions, followed closely by the directive to increase the border patrol, which is backed by 75 percent of voters.
Despite a very loud opposition to Trump's executive order that paused immigration from high risk countries, it would appear that the poll finds that 56 percent of Americans approve of it until a more reliable vetting system is in place. This approval jumps up to 60 percent when the countries Trump has paused immigration from are described as "Muslim majority countries."
Finally, it would appear that when it comes to refugees, the majority of Americans believe that so much of it from these countries has a negative effect on the United States.
Forty-seven percent said allowing refugees into the country has a negative impact on the nation, compared to only 33 percent who said it has a positive effect.When voters are told that the U.S. is slated to receive 100,000 Syrian refugees, 51 percent said that number should be lower, 34 percent said it is an appropriate number, and 15 percent said the U.S. should allow more.
“Americans support both comprehensive immigration reform and stronger vetting and reduced refugees — they want a mix of compassion, strong borders,” said Penn. “They see ISIS as the greatest threat to the country and that is spurring concerns about refugee migration.”
Interestingly enough, this survey had a majority of its 2,148 participants identifying as Democrat than Republican, 39 to 30 percent respectively.
