by Neil Munro
Donald Trump’s pro-American immigration reform is getting strong majority support from the public, despite the left’s portrayal of the policy as hateful and incompetent, and despite Democratic voters’ determination to obstruct the new president.
Reuters commissioned the poll and then tried to hide the resulting good news for Trump under a misleading headline, “Exclusive: Only a third of Americans think Trump’s travel ban will make them more safe.”
But the most direct question in the poll showed a seven-point advantage for Trump’s policy, of 48 support to 41 percent opposition.
However, that hard-edged “blocking refugees and banning people” question is not conclusive because most Americans want to help both their fellow Americans and foreign strangers. Americans’ generous attitude ensures that they are often reluctant to show favoritism to their fellow nationals or opposition to foreign migrants. So their hidden views can be teased out by asking indirect questions.
One indirect question used by Reuters’ pollster asked if the United States should “limit the number of refugees allowed into the country.” That question scored 66 percent support to 26 percent opposition, showing overwhelming yet hidden support for Trump’s new policy of welcoming a limited inflow of refugees while excluding hostile migrants.
Better still for Trump, the “strong” support for his refugee-limiting policy was three times as large as the “strong” opposition, 32 percent to 10 percent, and the GOP voters’ response was very similar to the response from swing-voting independents. full story
