On shaky ground
By Scott Clement February 23 at 7:00 AM
The Trump administration’s expanded enforcement against undocumented immigrants may not come as a surprise given the president’s strident stance on the issue during the presidential campaign. But, the plan risks crossing a significant line in many Americans’ minds: criminality.
That dynamic was illustrated in two Washington Post-ABC News polls over the past year. In January, 72 percent supported a proposal to deport about 2 million undocumented immigrants who have been convicted of a crime, with over 52 percent supporting it “strongly.” The policy garnered support across party lines, including 90 percent of Republicans, 72 percent of independents and 58 percent of Democrats.
But a Post-ABC poll during the presidential primaries found a very different result when asking about support for deporting all 11 million undocumented immigrants in the U.S.. Just 36 percent supported the idea, exactly half the level of support for deporting convicted criminals in the post-election poll.
The drop in support for deportation of all undocumented immigrants compared with jus those convicted of crimes was large across party lines. Only among Republicans did a majority support deporting all undocumented immigrants (57 percent), dropping to 33 percent of independents and 20 percent of Democrats. For each group, support for mass deportation was more than 30 points lower than when it was focused on those convicted of crimes ...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/02/23/trumps-new-deportation-rules-step-over-key-line-in-public-attitudes/?utm_term=.37919f8cdb43
