Rasmussen: Half oppose ‘sanctuary’ status as alien criminals allowed to stay

A new Rasmussen survey released Monday reveals that half of the country’s likely voters oppose living in so-called “sanctuary communities,” at the same time that Fox News is reporting that “Nearly 60,000 immigrants with arrest records — including 10 accused of murder — have been allowed to stay in the United States under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.”

According to the Rasmussen survey, 39 percent of voters “generally speaking” think sanctuary communities are less safe than communities that do not have such policies. Thirty-seven percent think the level of safety is “about the same.”

But the survey was taken June 7 and 10, before the Department of Homeland Security released its report on the number of migrants with criminal records who are now apparently in the United States now. As Fox reported, DHS says there are 59,786 DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients who have been arrested while in this country.

According to the Fox News report, that includes “approximately 7.8 percent of all who have been approved to remain in this country under the program since it was created in 2012. Of those, 53,792 were arrested before their most recent request for a so-called “grant of deferred action” was approved. Another 7,814 were arrested after their request was approved.”

When Rasmussen asked the same question last year, the results were about the same.
“Voters also felt similarly about their state declaring itself a sanctuary state for immigrants after the Justice Department in March announced plans to sue the state of California – which has declared itself a sanctuary state – for obstructing federal efforts to round up and deport illegal immigrants, many of whom are convicted criminals,” Rasmussen noted.

Breaking down the survey results, 58 percent of Democrats “favor their community declaring itself a sanctuary community, (but) 76% of Republicans and 48% of voters not affiliated with either major party disagree,” Rasmussen elaborated. The polling group added, “Nearly half of Democrats (48%) and 42% of (independents) think sanctuary communities are equally as safe as non-sanctuary ones, but most Republicans (65%) think they’re less safe.”

These reports come as protests are being launched against the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement policies.