Americans see immigration as the most urgent problem for President-elect Donald Trump to resolve in his new term. And a large majority believes that he will carry out mass deportations of people living illegally in the United States, as shown in a Reuters/Ipsos poll concluded this Thursday (7).
However, respondents to the poll, which took place over two days and was conducted hours after the Republican won the election, were divided over his plan to expel a large number of people from the territory.
Asked what Trump’s priority should be in the first 100 days of government, 25% of those interviewed said it was immigration, a topic mentioned much more than any other.
A total of 14% said he should focus on income inequality, while 12% said taxes should be the priority. Smaller slices cited health, safety, employment and the environment.
About 82% of those surveyed said that Trump is likely to order the mass deportation of people, and this opinion brings similar percentages among Democrats and Republicans. Many said they were concerned about the measure, including 82% of Democrats and 40% of Republicans. About nine in ten Republicans said they were not concerned about the possibility of the president-elect ordering mass deportations.
During the campaign, Trump promised to carry out a massive crackdown on immigration, including promising to deport record numbers of immigrants, in an operation that Vice President-elect JD Vance estimates could drive 1 million people out of the country per year.
Trump has repeatedly drawn attention to crimes allegedly committed by illegal immigrants, even though many studies show that they do not commit more crimes than native-born Americans.
This Thursday (7), the Republican said in an interview with NBC News that he will fulfill his promise to carry out mass deportations, regardless of the cost, saying: “It’s not a question of price. It is not. We have no choice.” Americans are divided over the possible mechanics of deportations, such as whether detention camps should be created.
A total of 58% of Republicans, compared to 15% of Democrats, agreed that illegal immigrants should be “arrested and placed in detention camps pending deportation hearings.” Opposition to this measure draws 75% of Democrats and 31% of Republicans.
Trump plans to use a 1798 statute to quickly deport alleged gang members, a move that is likely to end up in the courts.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online and interviewed 1,471 adults across the country. The results have a margin of error of 3 percentage points for the entire sample and five percentage points for the groups of Republicans and Democrats.
