President Donald Trump has repeatedly declared that he has a mandate from the American people to stem immigration, but a new Gallup Poll reveals attitudes have shifted since he took office.
Gallup posted Friday, "When asked if immigration is generally a good thing or bad thing for the country, a record-high 79% of U.S. adults call it a good thing; a record-low 17% see it as a bad thing."
Other highlights of the poll showed "30% of Americans want immigration decreased, down from 55% a year ago." It also showed waning support for Trump's border wall and mass deportation policy.
Gallup based the findings on a June 2-26 sample of 1,402 U.S. adults, "including oversamples of Hispanic and Black Americans, weighted to match national demographics."
CNN's Aaron Blake called the numbers "stunning" when summing up the poll: "About 7 in 10 independents disapprove of Trump's handling of immigration -- despite a historic drop in border crossings. And a 21st Century-high 79% of Americans said immigration is a 'good thing' -- up from 64% last year."
Blake offered a caveat, however: "Worth noting that other pollsters haven't shown independents souring quite so much on Trump's immigration policies. A Marist poll from last month showed indies disapproved 59-36. But that's still lopsided."
Prem Thacker with Zateo News exclaimed, "Wow....It’s almost like Americans were never fundamentally, inevitably 'anti-immigration' and Democrats never had to just put their hands up and meekly chase Republicans (and lose), and affirm all their anti-immigrant positions that helped get us here at all!"
Global Refuge's Tim Young declared, "the pendulum has swung drastically since last year" on the issue of immigration, while The Cato Institute's David J. Bier called it an "absolute bloodbath for Trump."
Sahil Kapur with NBC News called the poll the result of "backlash politics taking effect," and Journalist Doug Henwood declared, "Support for immigration hits a record; Trump deep underwater on the issue."
