New Poll: Despite Trump, U.S. Support for Central American Immigrants Now Higher Than Historical Norm

Gallup has released a poll showing that despite relentless anti-immigrant propaganda coming from the highest levels of government, and from President Trump in particular, 51 percent of Americans approve of letting the refugees into the U.S. That’s against 43 percent opposed, which represents an approval rate above the historical norm. Gallup explains that last part:

On average, including this year, 36% have supported letting various refugees into the country, while slightly more than half (55%) have been opposed. In addition to the current situation involving Central American refugees, the only other time Gallup measured greater support than opposition was for Kosovo refugees in 1999. Support for those Kosovo refugees may have been higher partly because the proposal called for a relatively small number of them to be admitted to the U.S.

As the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent points out, that’s after a long campaign attempting to turn American citizens against exactly these kinds of people, including a recent press offensive scaremongering about the “caravan” and a move to have actual military presence at the border.

New from Gallup:

Americans support taking in Central American migrants by 51-43, higher than historical norm:https://t.co/9oDb3kwOkv

This comes after Trump spent months using his presidency and the military to turn the country against them. He’s losing the argument. https://t.co/aZPgJb9AfI

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— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) December 20, 2018

As you might guess, Democrats (82%) approve in far greater numbers than Republicans (14%), but independents (52%) are right at the average and still favor assimilation by more than half.

There’s no indication that this will change anything in the executive branch—even now, you’d have to imagine, Stephen Miller is dreaming up the latest cruelty that Trump will devour whole—but it does show that the executive branch has not managed to turn a nation against the vulnerable refugees at our border, and that in fact their message has at least partly backfired.