A majority of likely U.S. voters, 53 percent, say the Obama administration is mismanaging the crisis at the border, according to the results of a
Rasmussen Reports survey, while a plurality,
46 percent, believe the administration’s "statements and policies encouraged this wave of thousands of illegal immigrant children."
During Rasmussen’s telephone survey of 1,000 likely voters conducted on July 29 and 30, 54 percent of those surveyed said they want the U.S. government to send the tens of thousands of children who have entered the country illegally over the past several months sent home "as quickly as possible." Just 36 percent said the government should process the illegal immigrants more slowly to determine whether any should be allowed to stay in the United States.
The poll has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
Only 22 percent of likely voters believe President Barack Obama will listen to the will of the people and send the children home. Fifty-four percent of those surveyed think Obama wants most of the children to remain in the United States.
The Washington Times reports that some 57,000 unaccompanied Central American minors have entered the U.S. illegally since October, something critics tie to the DREAM Act legislation, signed by Obama in June 2012 and provides conditional permanent residency to certain immigrants who come to the United States as minors and live here for at least five years prior to the bill's enactment.
"The administration has been begun secretly moving these new illegal immigrants to detention centers around the country, but most voters say they don’t want them housed in their state and say any legislation passed by Congress to deal with the problem should focus on sending them home as soon as possible," Rasmussen said in a statement.
Feelings about how to handle the crisis differ by political party affiliation, according to the survey. Among Republicans, 69 percent want the unaccompanied minors sent home as soon as possible. The figure is 59 percent for those not affiliated with either major party.
But 50 percent of Democrats think the illegal immigrants should be processed more slowly to "determine whether any should be allowed to stay in the United States."
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