Seven out of 10 Americans believe that the thousands of illegal immigrant children should be treated as refugees and allowed to stay, a new poll shows.
In the
Public Religion Research Institute survey, 69 percent of respondents say the undocumented kids from Central American countries should remain in the United States if they can prove that it is unsafe for them back in their homeland.
On the other hand, 27 percent of Americans think the children should be treated as illegal immigrants and deported.
Seventy-one percent also say they mostly or completely agree that the United States should protect people who enter the country if they face serious danger back home,
Politico reported.
However, 59 percent of the people surveyed mostly or completely agree that allowing the children to stay will lead to even more illegal immigrants.
The survey also shows that 79 percent of Americans called the border situation a "crisis" or a "serious" problem, and 80 percent said they had heard about the influx of child immigrants.
The survey of 1,026 adults was conducted July 23-27 with a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points.