While the immigration policies advocated by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump are highly controversial, the results of a new poll from CNN/ORC show voters seem undecided whether he or his Democratic presidential candidate rival Hillary Clinton is the best person to tackle the issue.
Many of Trump’s contentious policies do not resonate with voters, with 60% against the idea of building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and 74% saying it is unlikely that he would be able to make Mexico pay for it, as he has suggested. About 66% of voters surveyed were firmly against the idea of mass deportations of undocumented immigrants currently living in the country, with just 45% of Trump’s own supporters in favor.
However, voters are much more split in regards to which of the two presidential candidates would actually do a better job of handling the immigration issue in general. The poll, which was released on Monday, suggests that 49% of voters favor Clinton, but Trump is not far behind with 47%. About 71% of Clinton voters want the top immigration priority to be developing a method allowing undocumented immigrants to stay in the U.S., but for those who back Trump, 56% believe preventing more undocumented immigrants from getting into the country should be the main priority.
In general, 51% of voters want the main priority to be giving undocumented immigrants some form of legal residency, while 36% want it to be preventing further illegal immigration. Just 11% believe deporting undocumented immigrants should be the main priority.