{"id":40802238746,"date":"2019-04-25T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-25T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/polling-institute\/?post_type=poll&p=40802238746"},"modified":"2019-06-05T15:40:24","modified_gmt":"2019-06-05T19:40:24","slug":"monmouthpoll_us_042519","status":"publish","type":"poll","link":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/polling-institute\/reports\/monmouthpoll_us_042519\/","title":{"rendered":"Mixed Opinion on Trump\u2019s New Immigration Proposals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

West Long Branch, NJ<\/em> \u2013 Despite some recent novel ideas from President Donald Trump, public\nopinion on illegal immigration and building a border wall have not budged in\nthe latest national Monmouth University Poll<\/em><\/strong>. \nWhile most Americans think that illegal immigration is a problem, few\nsay that illegal immigrants commit more crimes or take jobs away from\nAmericans. A majority continue to oppose building a wall along the southern\nborder.  Among the new ideas Trump has\nfloated, the public tends to favor detaining asylum-seekers in Mexico but are\nmore divided on his proposal to release immigrants into \u201csanctuary cities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seven-in-ten Americans see illegal\nimmigration as either a very serious (46%) or somewhat serious (25%)\nproblem.  Another 16% say it is not too\nserious and 12% not at all serious. \nThese results are in line with polls taken since late 2015.  Republicans are the most likely partisan\ngroup to say this is a very serious problem (77%) \u2013 a feeling that is more\nwidespread than four years ago (66%). \nOnly 26% of Democrats feel that illegal immigration is a very serious\nproblem, down slightly from 2015 (33%). \nJust over 4-in-10 independents feel the problem is very serious (43%),\nnearly identical to 2015 (42%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A majority of the public (56%)\ncontinues to oppose building a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico, compared\nwith 42% who support it.  Opposition has\nranged between 51% and 60% since Trump took office, while support for the wall\nhas ranged between 35% and 44%. Early in the 2016 presidential cycle, when\nTrump made the wall a key campaign issue, public opinion was more in favor of\nbuilding it at 48% support and 43% oppose. \nMost of the drop in support since the campaign has come from Democrats,\ngoing from 31% in 2015 to just 12% in the current poll. Over the same period,\nsupport has gone up slightly among Republicans (from 73% to 79%) and down\nslightly among independents (from 47% to 42%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIllegal immigration is clearly a\nproblem, but the wall is not a solution. \nThis has been the majority view since Trump took office,\u201d said Patrick\nMurray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The president has floated a number of\nideas for dealing with immigrants who want political asylum.  Just over half of Americans (51%) agree with\nthe policy implemented earlier this year of keeping asylum-seekers in Mexico\nwhile their claims are being processed compared with 41% who say they should be\nallowed into the U.S. while they wait.  A\nplurality of the public (46%) is inclined to believe that asylum-seekers are\njust trying to get around the normal process of applying for entry into the\ncountry compared with 37% who believe that these immigrants really are fleeing\nviolence in their home countries.  There\nare predictable partisan divisions in these findings. Republicans are more\nlikely to feel asylum-seekers are skirting the normal entry process (71%) and\nthat they should be made to wait in Mexico (83%). Democrats are more likely to\nfeel that claims of fleeing violence are genuine (58%) and they should be\ngranted entry to the U.S. while their applications are processed (62%).\nIndependents are divided on both the authenticity of asylum-seekers\u2019 claims\n(43% say it is a ruse to get around the process and 36% say it is for genuine\nreasons) and where to detain these immigrants while their applications are\nreviewed (47% in Mexico and 43% in U.S.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A more recent proposal is to relocate\ndetained immigrants who are ready for release only to places that have declared\nthemselves as sanctuary cities. American opinion is divided, with 46% who\nsupport this idea and 43% who are opposed. A majority of Republicans (55%) and\nindependents (52%) favor this idea while few Democrats (31%) agree.  When informed that President Trump supports\nthis idea, 71% say it does not change their mind, while 16% say it makes them\nless likely to support the idea and 10% say it makes them more likely to\nsupport it.  In effect, this does not\nchange overall opinion on the sanctuary cities relocation proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it is difficult for the\npublic to fully process these novel approaches, some of which were floated in a\ntweet.  If the president\u2019s aim is to keep\nthe immigration debate off balance, it may be mission accomplished,\u201d said\nMurray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One rationale for many of the\nproposals, including the border wall, is to prevent an influx of violent\ncriminals.  However, most Americans do\nnot believe that illegal immigrants are more likely than other U.S. residents\nto commit violent crimes.  Just 21% say\nthey are more likely to commit crimes like rape or murder, while 50% say they\nare about as likely as other Americans to do this, and 24% say they are\nactually less likely to commit these types of crimes. These results are fairly\nconsistent with prior polls since 2015. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of economic impacts of\nillegal immigration, few people (24%) feel that illegal immigrants take away\njobs from American citizens.  Most (60%)\nsay illegal immigrants fill jobs that Americans do not want.  There are no significant differences in these\nresults by income level.  This opinion\nhas not shifted significantly since 2015.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen the public breaks down the impact of illegal immigration, few point to concerns that really hit close to home. But it\u2019s an issue that draws on Americans\u2019 emotions and Trump has been successful in keeping the narrative emotional,\u201d said Murray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Monmouth University Poll<\/em>\nwas conducted by telephone from April 11 to 15, 2019 with 801 adults in the\nUnited States.  The question results in this release have a margin of\nerror of +\/- 3.5 percentage points. The poll was conducted by the Monmouth\nUniversity Polling Institute in West Long Branch, NJ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

QUESTIONS\nAND RESULTS      <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(* Some columns may not add to 100% due to\nrounding.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Q1-7 previously released.<\/em>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8.<\/span> How serious a problem do you think the issue of illegal immigration is for the United States right now \u2013 very, somewhat, not too, or not at all serious?<\/span><\/p>\n
\n TREND:\n <\/td>\n April
\n 2019<\/strong>\n <\/td>		\n Nov.
\n 2018\n <\/td>		\n Jan.
\n 2018\n <\/td>		\n Sept.
\n 2017\n <\/td>		\n Sept.
\n 2015\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n Very serious\n <\/td>\n 46%<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n 49%\n <\/td>\n 45%\n <\/td>\n 43%\n <\/td>\n 45%\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n Somewhat serious\n <\/td>\n 25%<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n 21%\n <\/td>\n 25%\n <\/td>\n 30%\n <\/td>\n 30%\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n Not too serious\n <\/td>\n 16%<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n 15%\n <\/td>\n 16%\n <\/td>\n 17%\n <\/td>\n 15%\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n Not at all serious\n <\/td>\n 12%<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n 13%\n <\/td>\n 13%\n <\/td>\n 10%\n <\/td>\n 9%\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n (VOL) Don\u2019t know\n <\/td>\n 1%<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n 1%\n <\/td>\n 1%\n <\/td>\n 1%\n <\/td>\n 2%\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n (n)<\/em>\n <\/td>\n (801)<\/em><\/strong>\n <\/td>\n (802)<\/em>\n <\/td>\n (806)<\/em>\n <\/td>\n (1,009)<\/em>\n <\/td>\n (1,009)<\/em><\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

9.<\/span> Do you favor or oppose building a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico?<\/span><\/p>\n
\n TREND:\n <\/td>\n April
\n 2019<\/strong>\n <\/td>		\n March
\n 2019\n <\/td>		\n Jan.
\n 2019\n <\/td>		\n Jan.
\n 2018\n <\/td>		\n Sept.
\n 2017\n <\/td>		\n Sept.
\n 2015\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n Favor\n <\/td>\n 42%<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n 44%\n <\/td>\n 44%\n <\/td>\n 40%\n <\/td>\n 35%\n <\/td>\n 48%\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n Oppose\n <\/td>\n 56%<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n 51%\n <\/td>\n 52%\n <\/td>\n 57%\n <\/td>\n 60%\n <\/td>\n 43%\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n (VOL) Don\u2019t know\n <\/td>\n 3%<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n 4%\n <\/td>\n 4%\n <\/td>\n 3%\n <\/td>\n 5%\n <\/td>\n 10%\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n (n)<\/em>\n <\/td>\n (801)<\/em><\/strong>\n <\/td>\n (802)<\/em>\n <\/td>\n (805)<\/em>\n <\/td>\n (806)<\/em>\n <\/td>\n (1,009)<\/em>\n <\/td>\n (1,009)<\/em><\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

10.<\/span> Do you think illegal immigrants coming to this country today take jobs away from American citizens, or do they mostly take jobs Americans don\u2019t want?\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n
\n TREND:\n <\/td>\n April
\n 2019<\/strong>\n <\/td>		\n Sept.
\n 2017\n <\/td>		\n Sept.
\n 2015\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n Take\n jobs away from American citizens\n <\/td>\n 24%<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n 23%\n <\/td>\n 26%\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n Take\n jobs Americans don\u2019t want\n <\/td>\n 60%<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n 59%\n <\/td>\n 59%\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n (VOL)\n Both\n <\/td>\n 9%<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n 12%\n <\/td>\n 10%\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n (VOL)\n Don\u2019t know\n <\/td>\n 7%<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n 5%\n <\/td>\n 6%\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n (n)<\/em>\n <\/td>\n (801)<\/em><\/strong>\n <\/td>\n (1,009)<\/em>\n <\/td>\n (1,009)<\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

11.<\/span> Do you think illegal immigrants are more likely, less likely, or about as likely as other Americans to commit violent crimes like rape or murder?<\/span><\/p>\n
\n TREND:\n <\/td>\n April
\n 2019<\/strong>\n <\/td>		\n Nov.
\n 2018\n <\/td>		\n Sept.
\n 2015\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n More likely\n <\/td>\n 21%<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n 21%\n <\/td>\n 17%\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n Less\n likely\n <\/td>\n 24%<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n 24%\n <\/td>\n 20%\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n About as likely\n <\/td>\n 50%<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n 51%\n <\/td>\n 59%\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n (VOL) Don\u2019t know\n <\/td>\n 5%<\/strong>\n <\/td>\n 4%\n <\/td>\n 4%\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n (n)<\/em><\/em>\n <\/td>\n (801)<\/em><\/strong>\n <\/td>\n (802)<\/em><\/em>\n <\/td>\n (1,009)<\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

12.<\/span> Should immigrants seeking political asylum at the border be allowed into the U.S. while they wait for their claims to be processed or should they be made to stay in Mexico?<\/span><\/p>\n
\n  \n <\/td>\n April
\n 2019<\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n Allowed into the U.S.\n <\/td>\n 41%<\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n Made to stay in Mexico\n <\/td>\n 51%<\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n (VOL)\n Don\u2019t know\n <\/td>\n 8%<\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n (n)<\/em><\/em>\n <\/td>\n (801)<\/em><\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

13.<\/span> Do you think immigrants who come to the border seeking political asylum are really fleeing violence or are they just trying to get around the normal process of applying for entry to the country?<\/span><\/p>\n
\n  \n <\/td>\n April
\n 2019<\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n Really fleeing violence\n <\/td>\n 37%<\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n Trying to get around the normal process\n <\/td>\n 46%<\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n (VOL)\n Don\u2019t know\n <\/td>\n 17%<\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n (n)<\/em><\/em>\n <\/td>\n (801)<\/em><\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

[Note: Questions 13A and 13B were only\nasked 4\/12-4\/15; n=624, m.o.e. +\/-3.9%]<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

13A.<\/span> Some have proposed that immigrants who were originally detained at the border but are now ready for release should be relocated only to places that have declared themselves \u201csanctuary cities.\u201d\u00a0 Do you support or oppose this idea?<\/span><\/p>\n
\n  \n <\/td>\n April
\n 2019<\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n Support\n <\/td>\n 46%<\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n Oppose\n <\/td>\n 43%<\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n (VOL) Depends\n <\/td>\n 4%<\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n (VOL)\n Don\u2019t know\n <\/td>\n 7%<\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n (n)<\/em><\/em>\n <\/td>\n (624)<\/em><\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

13B.<\/span> This idea has been proposed by President Trump. Does that make you more likely or less likely to support the idea, or doesn\u2019t it change your opinion?<\/span><\/p>\n
\n  \n <\/td>\n April
\n 2019<\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n More likely\n <\/td>\n 10%<\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n Less likely\n <\/td>\n 16%<\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n Doesn\u2019t change opinion\n <\/td>\n 71%<\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n (VOL)\n Don\u2019t know\n <\/td>\n 3%<\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n (n)<\/em><\/em>\n <\/td>\n (624)<\/em><\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

[Q14-17 and 23-24 previously released.<\/em>]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Q18-22 and 25-31 held for future\nrelease.<\/em>]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

METHODOLOGY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Monmouth\nUniversity Poll<\/em> was sponsored and conducted by the Monmouth University\nPolling Institute from April 11 to 15, 2019 with a national random sample of\n801 adults age 18 and older, in English. This includes 320 contacted by a\nlive interviewer on a landline telephone and 481 contacted by a live\ninterviewer on a cell phone. Telephone numbers were selected through\nrandom digit dialing and landline respondents were selected with a modified\nTroldahl-Carter youngest adult household screen. Monmouth is responsible for\nall aspects of the survey design, data weighting and analysis. Final sample is\nweighted for region, age, education, gender and race based on US Census\ninformation. Data collection support provided by Braun Research (field) and\nDynata (RDD sample). For results based on this sample, one can say with\n95% confidence that the error attributable to sampling has a maximum margin of\nplus or minus 3.5 percentage points (unadjusted for sample\ndesign). Sampling error can be larger for sub-groups (see table\nbelow). In addition to sampling error, one should bear in mind that\nquestion wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce\nerror or bias into the findings of opinion polls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n DEMOGRAPHICS (weighted)<\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n Self-Reported<\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 25%\n Republican<\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 44% Independent<\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 31% Democrat<\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n  <\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 48% Male<\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 52% Female<\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n  <\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 30% 18-34<\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 33% 35-54<\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 37% 55+<\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n  <\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 64% White<\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 12% Black<\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 16%\n Hispanic<\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n   8% Asian\/Other<\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n  <\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 69% No\n degree<\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n 31% 4 year\n degree<\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr>
\n  <\/em> <\/em>\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n

Click on pdf file link below for full methodology and crosstabs by key demographic groups.<\/strong> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Majority continues to oppose building a border wall <\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":40802238747,"template":"","geography":[18],"class_list":["post-40802238746","poll","type-poll","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","geography-national"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/polling-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/poll\/40802238746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/polling-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/poll"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/polling-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/poll"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/polling-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/poll\/40802238746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40802241245,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/polling-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/poll\/40802238746\/revisions\/40802241245"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/polling-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40802238747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/polling-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40802238746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"geography","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/polling-institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/geography?post=40802238746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}