Voters believe it’s the parents who are to blame for the controversy at the southern U.S. border, where adults who enter the country illegally are held pending court action and their children are kept in separate facilities for their protection.
That’s according to a new Rasmussen poll.
Media have seized on the issue to target President Trump, spotlighting heartbreaking photographs of children in detention facilities that actually were taken during the Obama administration
Trump has asked Congress to resolve the issue through legislation but took immediate action Wednesday with an executive order intended to keep the illegal-alien families united. But the order certainly will face court challenges, and congressional Republicans continue to work on a legislative solution amid opposition from Democrats who complain the GOP is using the issue to achieve its larger immigration objectives, including a border wall.
Rasmussen found most voters “blame the parents of the separated children at the border for the latest illegal immigration crisis, not the federal government.”
“Fifty-four percent of Likely U.S. Voters say the parents are more to blame for breaking the law. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that only 35 percent believe the federal government is more to blame for enforcing the law. Eleven percent (11 percent) are not sure.”
The poll found 82 percent of Republicans and 56 percent of voters not affiliated with either major political party believe the parents are more to blame for breaking the law.
But 60 percent of Democrats say the government is more to blame for enforcing the law.
Among Democrats, 75 percent condemn the Trump administration as being too aggressive in trying to stop the flow of illegals into the U.S. But that view is shared by only 23 percent of Republicans.
Democrats view illegal aliens as potential members of their voting bloc. On Wednesday, a judge in Kansas exempted residents of the state from proving they are citizens before registering to vote, even though federal law requires voters to be citizens.
Rasmussen said 54 percent agree with President Trump when he says: “The United States will not be a migrant camp. And it will not be a refugee-holding facility – it won’t be.”
The poll found 30 percent disagree, while 16 percent are undecided.
The polling of 1,000 likely voters was conducted on June 19-20. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence.
Rasmussen noted 44 percent of voters said in April that Trump is doing a “good or excellent job” handling issues related to immigration.
“This is higher approval than President Obama earned on this issue at any point during his time in office,” the report said.
