Rasmussen: 47 Percent Support Designating MS-13 a Terrorist Organization

A poll published Monday by Rasmussen Reports finds that 47 percent of likely voters support a proposal designating the imported, Central-American gang Ms-13 as a terrorist organization.

Asked if they favor or oppose “a proposal has been made to designate the nationwide MS-13 criminal gang a terrorist organization,” 47 percent agreed, 17 percent disagreed, and another 35 percent were unsure.

Men were more in favor of such a move: 57 percent of likely male voters agreed with such a proposal, while only 15 percent were opposed. Twenty-eight percent were unsure. When it came to female voters, 38 percent agreed with the proposal, while 20 percent opposed it and 42 percent were unsure.

A majority of Republicans, 66 percent, supported the idea, while only 11 percent opposed it, and 23 percent were unsure. Many Democrats also backed the move: 34 percent supported it, 26 percent opposed it, and 40 percent were unsure.

Those voters who support labeling MS-13 a terrorist organization think it will help reduce crime, pollsters say:

More than half of voters who favor designating MS-13 as a terrorist organization believe doing so will decrease violent crime. Among those who oppose naming MS-13 as terrorists, 48 percent think designating certain gangs as terrorist organizations will have no impact on violent crime, while 32 percent think it will increase.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said last week the foreign gang “could qualify” as a terror group. As Breitbart News has reported, such a designation “would make providing any material support for the group, here or abroad, a felony, and compel U.S. financial institutions to freeze any assets they reasonably believe belong to the group.” Simply enforcing immigration law would “devastate” the gang, he added.

MS-13 has roughly 6,000 members in the U.S. and as many as 30,000 supporters abroad, Fox News host Tucker Carlson has noted. While a recent spate of brutal murders has caught the nation’s attention, the gang is also involved in drug trafficking, human smuggling, and other serious crimes affecting American communities.

Pollsters surveyed 1,000 likely voters from Apr. 19 to Apr. 20. The poll’s margin of error is plus or minus three percentage points.