Poll: 80 Percent Oppose Sanctuary Cities

The vast majority of Americans oppose sanctuary policies.

In a new poll by Harvard-Harris, some 80 percent of American voters said they disapproved of localities not notifying federal immigration officials when they come in contact with an illegal alien, a policy that has been adopted by major cities such as New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

The poll, exclusively reviewed by The Hill, also found that President Donald Trump has majority support with the American people when it comes to overhauling the nation’s legal immigration system.

About 52 percent of Americans said they supported Trump’s two executive orders on immigration, which calls for the construction of a U.S. southern border wall, demands federal funds be stripped from sanctuary cities, and ramps up the number of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

Roughly 77 percent of Americans said they supported “comprehensive immigration reform,” with only 23 percent saying they opposed the overhaul.

“While there is broad support for comprehensive immigration reform, there is overwhelming opposition to sanctuary cities,” Harvard–Harris Co-director Mark Penn told the Hill. “The public wants honest immigrants treated fairly and those who commit crimes deported and that’s very clear from the data.”

The definition of comprehensive immigration reform, though, varies, as it has come to mean ‘amnesty’ for illegal aliens among Beltway circles. The poll did not define what comprehensive immigration reform would look like under Trump.

The poll surveyed 39 percent Democrat, 30 percent Republican, 27 percent independent and 5 percent of Americans who said they aligned with another political party.

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