Despite his March loss in the 2016 Presidential Primary for Texas, presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump’s proposals for a southern border wall and a temporary ban on the entry of noncitizen Muslims to the United States enjoy majority support among the state’s registered voters.
The Texas Tribune/University of Texas poll finds that 53 percent of Texas’ registered voters claim to “somewhat” or “strongly support” Trump’s proposal to ban non-U.S. citizen Muslims from entering the country. Though it should shock no one that Republicans are generally favorable of the idea, registered Democrats’ significant approval of the same helps to justify the poll’s headline finding. Roughly 26% of Texas Democrats at least “somewhat” supported the plan with an additional eight percent still uncertain. Just more than 50 percent of independents agreed as well.
The question posed to respondents regarding the ban is without much of the details usually included among Trump and his surrogates. The campaign has often asserted that such a move would be “temporary” or even targeted to known terror havens. The survey simply asked, “Would you support or oppose banning Muslims who are not U.S. citizens from entering the United States?”
Divided among party designations, Republicans and independents make up the bulk of support for Trump’s southern border wall proposal. An estimated 76 percent of GOP voters and 59% of independents hope to see the security feature built. An added 11 percent are still on the fence. Among Texas voters overall, the wall garners 52 percent support.
The poll found that a slim majority of Texans (51 percent) also support the “immediate” deportation of foreign nationals illegally present in the United States.
The UT pollsters note that Trump’s candidacy has helped confirm “nationalist” and “nativist” tendencies held prior to the real estate mogul’s entry into the 2016 presidential contest.
Some high-profile Texans have registered their support for Trump’s border security proposals, pre-dating the current attitudes surveyed. Breitbart Texas reported in May:
“Iconic Texas billionaire and principal of BP Capital Management, T. Boone Pickens, offered his full-throated support for presumed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s proposal to temporarily block Muslims from entry to the United States. Pickens also made clear his intent to support the New York billionaire’s bid for the White House in a financial sense.”
Logan Churchwell is the Assistant Editor and a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. You can follow him on Twitter @LCChurchwell.
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