Poll: Majority of Americans Want Merit-Based Immigration

A new survey shows widespread support for President Donald Trump’s plan to swap current U.S. immigration policy, based on family-ties, toward entry based on skills and merit.

In a Rasmussen Reports poll, 44 percent of likely American voters want to move to a merit-based immigration system that only admits legal immigrants if their skills are needed in the U.S.

Only 37 percent of likely voters want to keep the current legal immigration system which is based solely on family chain migration. Another 18 percent of likely voters said they did not know which system they would prefer.

Men, as well as younger likely voters, much prefer a merit-based immigration system, with 51 percent saying they would like to see a switch, as opposed to 38 percent of women. Voters between the ages 18 to 30 favored a merit system by 49 percent. Voters from 40 to 64 preferred the status quo by 43 percent.

While Trump’s merit-based plan is wildly popular with 60 percent of Republicans, likely voters who do not identify with either of the two major political parties show 47 percent support as well.

The poll also found that Americans continue to support deportations of illegal immigrants, even if the illegal immigrant has a child in the U.S.

Forty-five percent of likely voters said illegal immigrants with children born in the U.S. should not be exempt from deportation. Only 37 percent disagreed.

Across party lines, deportations of illegal immigrants with children remains popular, with 62 percent of Republicans supporting the action, along with 30 percent of Democrats and 46 percent of American voters who are not affiliated with either major political party.

John Binder is a contributor for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.