Recent polling couldn’t be any clearer: Undocumented immigrants are popular with the American people. Donald Trump is not.
“Virtually every recent poll shows that Americans believe that illegal immigrants currently living in the United States should be given a chance to remain here legally,” writes Karlyn Bowman in Forbes. Look no further than a massive PRRI poll from last month, which found that Americans support a path to legal status over deportation by 79% – 16%.
Giving undocumented immigrants with deep ties to the US a chance to continue building their lives, families, and homes here isn’t a partisan issue either. Even Donald Trump’s own supporters back legalization over deportation. YUGE:
Support for offering undocumented immigrants a chance to remain legally is highest among Democrats, but recent polls by Quinnipiac, Gallup, and Pew showed majority or plurality support among Republicans as well.
Even among Trump voters in the 2016 exit poll, the percentage who said illegal immigrants should be offered a chance to apply for legal status outweighed the percentage who said they should be deported, 50 to 44 percent.
It’s gotta be bruising for a guy who makes such a big deal about ratings and is seeing his own numbers tanking like Trump University:
President Trump’s approval rating tumbled to an all-time low in the latest Gallup tracking poll. As of Feb. 11, just 40 percent approve of the job Trump is doing as president, while 55 percent disapprove. Around the same time in former President Barack Obama’s first term, Obama boasted a 65 percent approval rating and a 21 percent disapproval rating.
That’s why it’s really no surprise that he’s floating an executive order conflating undocumented immigrants with welfare use. Since Trump can’t get people to rally around his Presidency, he figures the least he can do is get Americans fighting each other instead.
But the sheer numbers from recent rallies in support of undocumented immigrants — and the public outrage from the unjust arrests of immigrants like Guadalupe and Daniel by ICE — show that the American public is unified around immigrants, not around him.
In light of his un-American attacks, keep expecting that support to only get stronger.
