CLEVELAND — Donald Trump’s promise to complete the border wall has strong support among Republicans, but nearly nine in 10 Democrats oppose it, according to a new Gallup survey.
The poll, released Wednesday morning, also shows that 91 percent of Democrats want to give illegal immigrants a path to citizenship, considered amnesty, a plan pushed by President Obama and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Trump, who won the GOP nomination Monday here at the Republican Convention, opened his campaign with a pledge to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, and force Mexico to pay for it. It has been a rallying cry for Americans angry with Obama’s immigration policies, especially his bid to let illegals stay in America.
Gallup asked 3,270 adults three questions: Do they support a path to citizenship, building of the wall, and deportation. It found that 62 percent of Republicans support the wall. But even more, 76 percent support a path to citizenship. And showing how the Republicans are split over immigration policy, 50 percent support deporting illegals and 48 percent oppose.
“Republicans widely say Trump’s proposals on immigration are closer to their own, by 76 percent to 15 percent. Republicans may have a hard time saying they view Clinton as better than their own party’s nominee on any issue, given their strong likelihood of voting for Trump in the election. Republicans may also be more comfortable with Trump’s broad approach to immigration, even if sizable minorities in the party disagree with some of his specific plans. Still, the 76 percent of Republicans who say Trump is closer to them on immigration is smaller than the 90 percent of Democrats who say the same about Clinton,” said the Gallup analysis.
Overall, the poll found the more Americans than not prefer a soft touch on illegals, siding with policies that grant a path to citizenship, 84 percent to 15 percent. And, said Gallup, “Blacks (84%) and whites (82%) show similar strong support for a path to citizenship, with Hispanics even higher, at 92%.”
The implications for the presidential race certainly show that Clinton’s open door policy has more national support than proposals from Trump.
“Should Trump be elected president, some may conclude his immigration proposals played a key part in that win. However, if Trump does prevail, it appears his victory would come in spite of his stance on immigration, not because of it,” said Gallup.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
