Americans are divided over the decision by President Obama to enact immigration reform through executive action and a new nationwide poll has found that they have started to grow less sympathetic toward undocumented immigrants over the course of the last 12 months.
Quinnipiac University conducted the new poll, the results of which were released yesterday, and found that just 45% of Americans agree with the president’s decision to deal with the issue of immigration by executive order in the light of the failure to act by Congress, with 48% opposed to the move. The amount of Americans in favor of giving citizenship to undocumented immigrants has also fallen since this time last year, dropping to 48% from 57% in November 2013.
The amount of Americans wanting undocumented immigrants to leave the United States has also reached an all-time high, with no less than 35% wanting them to be forced to leave the country, rising from just 26% last year. The poll is not all good news for the Republican party, however, with the tactic that some have been suggesting in response to Obama’s decision – forcing another government shutdown – being roundly disapproved of by 68% of the respondents. Obama now has a very low performance approval rating of just 39%, very close to his all-time low of 38%. 54% of the surveyed Americans think that he is doing a poor job as president, with 47% now having more trust in the Republican party than in their current leader.