Amnesty for illegal migrants greatly divides voters from the two major political parties, with 70% of Democrats supporting the policy and 63% of Republicans opposing it, Rasmussen Reports found.
According to the poll, 50% of likely voters said they support legislation to grant amnesty to illegal migrants, allowing them to become permanent U.S. residents, while 43% oppose it.
Of those surveyed, 22% strongly support amnesty, compared to 28% who strongly oppose it.
In addition to 70% of Democrats saying they favor amnesty and 63% of Republicans opposing it, independents are nearly split, with 44% supporting and 46% opposing legalization, Rasmussen Reports found.
As for the deportation of all illegal migrants, 48% of voters said they would support the policy, while 47% oppose it.
Among Republicans, 69% favor mass deportation, compared to 65% of Democrats who oppose it. Unaffiliated voters were again evenly divided.
The survey also asked about sanctuary policies, state-level refusals to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. Here, 48% of likely voters said they support such policies, while 42% oppose them.
Among Democrats, 65% favor sanctuary policies, while 58% of Republicans are against them.
Views on President Donald Trump's immigration record remain just as polarized. Nearly half (47%) of voters said Trump’s immigration policies are too harsh, while 32% said they are about right, and 17% said they aren’t harsh enough.
Democrats overwhelmingly reject Trump’s approach, with 72% calling his policies too harsh, compared to only 18% of Republicans who said the same. Among independents, 48% also found Trump’s stance excessive.
Among voters who said Trump's policies are too harsh, 74% support amnesty. Conversely, of those who said Trump’s policies are “about right,” 77% back deporting all illegal immigrants.
The Rasmussen survey found gender, racial, and age gaps shaping opinions on immigration.
Men (55%) are far more likely than women (42%) to support mass deportation, while women (49%) are more likely than men (43%) to describe Trump’s immigration stance as too harsh.
Support for amnesty is higher among minority voters, with 63% of Black voters and 51% of Hispanics backing legalization for illegal immigrants, compared to 48% of white voters.
Younger voters under 30 show stronger support for both amnesty and sanctuary policies, while opposition is greatest among those aged 50 and older and among voters earning more than $100,000 annually.
When asked about protests against federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, 45% of voters said they sympathize more with ICE agents, while 41% said they side with anti-ICE protesters.
The partisan lines are again clear: 69% of Republicans back ICE agents, while 60% of Democrats sympathize with protesters.
The Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey was conducted Oct. 12-14 among 1,177 likely voters. It has a plus/minus 3 percentage points margin of sampling error with a 95% level of confidence.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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