President-elect Donald Trump made it clear on the campaign trail that the mass-deportation of immigrants illegally in the United States would be among his first priorities.
But just how Trump would remove the estimated 11 million people in the U.S. without legal authorization remains unclear. How would the process be carried out? Would families be separated? And which agencies would carry out the arrests and detentions?
The latest Meredith Poll underscores how concerned North Carolinians are about the ability to control illegal immigration.
Asked how concerned they were by the number of people entering the U.S. illegally, a plurality of Democrats indicated they are extremely concerned (27%) or very concerned (21.3%), with more than 71% of Republicans indicating that they are extremely concerned or very concerned (16.1%).
As far as how to best address illegal immigration, 82% said they supported using technology and increasing the number of border agents.
When it comes to completing the wall along the southern border, over 90 percent of Republican respondents agree with this solution, compared to less than 48 percent of Democrats. Less than 63 percent of unaffiliated voters said they would support the support wall’s completion.
The poll found strong support for arresting and deporting undocumented immigrants with a criminal record.
But if the only crime was entering the United States without proper documentation, that’s where North Carolinians have their differences.
While over 73 percent of Republican respondents favor arresting and deporting undocumented persons who have not committed a violent or property crime, only a little over 38 percent of Democratic respondents would support these arrests and deportations. Just over 45 percent of unaffiliated voters would support this as a solution.
Notably, 60 percent of the respondents in the Meredith poll support using military personnel to enforce immigration policy initiatives. Support for using sheriffs and local law enforcement personnel is even stronger with 65 percent of those polled supporting this option. A little more than one-third (34%) said they opposed the military being used for this purpose.
In terms of age groups, the poll finds less than half of Gen Z voters support the use of military personnel to enforce immigration policy (49.2%) whereas the oldest generation of respondents were overwhelmingly supportive of the use of the military (80.1%) and local law enforcement personnel (85.1%) for immigration enforcement.
The construction industry has voiced concerns about how mass deportation would harm the industry. (File Photo)
“The support for using military and local law enforcement to assist in immigration enforcement speaks to the gravity of the issue in citizens’ minds,” said David McLennan, director of the Meredith Poll. “In North Carolina, Democrats have stood up against House Bill 10, which forces sheriffs and local law enforcement to assist ICE in detaining immigrants. Democratic voters we polled, however, see the utility in using military and law enforcement in this effort.”
According to the Brookings Institution, 60% of the undocumented have lived in the U.S. for at least a decade.
So, should those who are undocumented and leading otherwise lawful, productive lives be swept up in these deportations?
According to the Meredith poll, a majority of respondents indicated their support for allowing those brought into the country as children, the so-called DACA recipients to remain, as well as those immigrants who are now married to an American citizen.
But in this divided, purple state there are partisan differences on this issue too.
A majority of Republicans said they do not believe that being married to a U.S. citizen should protect an undocumented immigrant from deportation. Only a slight plurality of Republican respondents want DACA recipients to remain in the United States.
“The Trump administration’s plans to aggressively remove undocumented immigrants will face some headwinds, especially as if people are arrested and deported without having caused problems in the United States,” said McLennan in a press release. “If the Trump administration attempts to revoke DACA protections or start separating married couples, the immigration ‘mandate’ that Trump claims may diminish.”
This week NBC News reported that the incoming Trump administration was making plans to deport some migrants to countries other than their own when their home countries refuse to accept them back.
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