Americans Divided Over Trump’s Proposed Deportation Policy, Survey Finds.
A recent survey reveals deep divisions among Americans regarding a proposal from former President Donald Trump that calls for the deportation of undocumented immigrants, even if it involves the use of military-guarded encampments.
Why It Matters
The debate is sparked by Trump’s pledge to implement mass deportations using a 226-year-old law that allows the federal government to detain “enemy aliens” during wartime.
Key Findings
According to a survey from the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and the Brookings Institution, 50% of Americans oppose establishing encampments for undocumented immigrants, while 47% support the idea. The data highlights stark political and demographic divides.
Political Lines: Nearly 79% of Republicans favor the use of encampments, while 47% of independents and just 22% of Democrats agree.
Media Influence: Among those who trust far-right news sources, 91% support militarized encampments, compared to 82% of Fox News viewers. Only 44% of Americans who avoid TV news back the policy.
Religious Groups’ Views
The survey also revealed significant differences among religious groups:
White evangelical Protestants were most supportive, with 75% in favor of the policy.
White Catholics followed with 61%, while Hispanic Protestants (47%), Black Protestants (42%), and Hispanic Catholics (33%) showed more mixed responses.
Around 39% of Jewish Americans and 32% of the religiously unaffiliated expressed support.
Expert Insight
PRRI president Robert P. Jones expressed surprise at the high levels of support, especially from Republicans and white evangelicals. He noted that the Alien Enemies Act, which Trump refers to, was last used during World War II. “This isn’t just rhetoric,” Jones emphasized, adding that it’s unsettling to see the policy revisited.
Background
Trump’s proposal to use the 1798 law is part of his broader, increasingly hostile rhetoric on immigration. He has referred to immigrants as the “enemy from within” and made baseless claims about their genetic threats.
The Bigger Picture
The PRRI survey also found a shift in public attitudes toward immigration policy:
Support for allowing immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to gain legal residency has dropped to 52%, down 10 points since 2018.
Meanwhile, 51% of respondents now support building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, a 10-point increase from 2016.
Calls for Change
Advocacy groups on the left, like Valiente Action Fund, are pushing for a media campaign to highlight the personal impact of mass deportations. Their research suggests that negative ads showing the effects of family separations under Trump’s policies swayed some Black and Latino voters who previously supported stricter immigration laws.
“We need to tell these stories and not let Trump control the narrative on immigration,” said Maria Rodriguez, executive director of the Valiente Action Fund.
Survey Methodology
The American Values Survey, conducted between Aug. 16 and Oct. 4, gathered responses from 5,027 adults across the U.S. The margin of error is ±1.82 percentage points.
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