The latest polling from Quinnipiac offers another reminder that the American public, across party lines, overwhelmingly supports Dreamers gaining citizenship. The new poll is the latest in a series of polls each finding that at least 80% of the public wants Congress to protect Dreamers. The polling also finds that the public is seeing through the White House and GOP spin on the subject and views President Trump and the congressional Republicans as favoring Dreamers’ deportation instead of protection.
Among the key immigration findings in the new Quinnipiac Poll:
- By an 80-16% margin, Americans want Dreamers to gain citizenship: Support is overwhelmingly pro-Dreamer when respondents were asked if they support, “allowing undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children to remain in the United States and eventually apply for citizenship.”
- Support for Dreamers is overwhelming across party lines: Democratic respondents in the poll support citizenship by a 94-5% margin, Independents by 82-14%, and Republicans by 59-37%.
- Americans think President Trump and congressional Republicans want Dreamers deported, not protected: The poll gauged the public’s belief whether President Trump and congressional Republicans and Democrats wanted Dreamers to be deported or to remain in the U.S. Respondents thought President Trump preferred deportation of Dreamers by a 63-37% margin and congressional Republicans by a 55-32% margin. Meanwhile, the public thought congressional Democrats supported Dreamers remaining in America by an 85-8% split.
- Public supports Democrats’ approach on immigration: By a 52-38% margin, Americans think Democrats can do a better job than Republicans handling immigration. The public also would hold Republicans and President Trump responsible for a failure to pass legislation resolving Dreamers’ status – pinning the blame on congressional Republicans instead of congressional Democrats by a 58-26% margin and also viewing President Trump as responsible for congressional inaction by a 61-37% margin.
