POLL: Most Voters Blame Parents, Not U.S. Government, For Border Crisis

According to a Rasmussen poll released Thursday in the wake of several days of media hysterics over the separation of children from their families at the U.S. Southern border, more voters blame parents of migrant children for the border crisis than they do the federal government.

When families are arrested and separated after attempting to enter the United States illegally, 54% of Likely U.S. Voters say the parents are more to blame for breaking the law. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that only 35% believe the federal government is more to blame for enforcing the law. Eleven percent (11%) are not sure.

The poll questions are below:

Perhaps even more notable (emphasis mine), 82% of Republicans and 56% of voters not affiliated with either major political party feel the parents are more to blame for breaking the law. But 60% of Democrats say the government is more to blame for enforcing the law.

There has been a great deal of chatter that the border situation — and it got about as ugly as these things can get just short of actual violence — was going to be a very bad look  for Republicans in the 2018 midterms. If these numbers are accurate, and especially if the GOP manages to get some kind of immigration reform passed in Congress, the damage to Republican members, and to President Trump himself, may not be as dramatic as people assumed at the beginning of the week.

For what it’s worth, the poll also found that “voters are strongly critical of Mexico’s efforts to keep illegal drugs and illegal immigrants out of the United States, and just over half agree with the president that the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is a good weapon to use to make our southern neighbor clean up its act.”

The poll was conducted on June 19-20, 2018 by Rasmussen Reports, and surveyed 1000 likely voters.

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