2nd Poll: Majority Want Deportations Accelerated

A second national poll this week has found that a majority of Americans want illegal immigrants to be deported as quickly as possible. 

A Rasmussen Reports poll found that 59% of likely U.S. voters “believe the primary focus of any new immigration legislation passed by Congress should be to send the young illegal immigrants back home as quickly as possible” while just “27% say it should focus instead on making it easier for these illegal immigrants to remain.” 

Eighty-five percent of Republicans and 61% of unaffiliated voters “believe the primary focus of any new immigration legislation should be sending these latest illegal immigrants back home as quickly as possible” while 46% of Democrats say “new legislation should primarily deal with making it easier for them to stay here.”

A Pew Research poll released on Wednesday found that a majority of Americans wanted deportations to be accelerated while a Gallup poll revealed that illegal immigration is now the country’s “top problem.” The Rasmussen poll, which was conducted on July 15-16 and has a margin of error +/- 3 percentage points, found that 83% of respondents were  paying attention to the illegal immigration issue “very closely.”

Some Democrats, including those in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, have indicated they do not want a 2008 law changed to make it easier for illegal immigrations from Central America to be deported more easily.