Majority of White Evangelicals Oppose Migrant Parent-Child Separation

Majority of White Evangelicals Oppose Migrant Parent-Child Separation

Majority of White Evangelicals Oppose Migrant Parent-Child Separation
Charles Edward Miller is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
82 percent of the religiously non-affiliated oppose the separation.

A poll conducted by Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) on various immigration issues revealed that an overwhelming majority of U.S. citizens opposed the policy laid out by Trump administration to separate undocumented parents from their children. The Washington headquartered organization also found among all the respondents, a few had supported this separation. Not surprisingly, white evangelicals form the core of this supportive group. 51 percent of white evangelicals are opposed to the Trump policy of separating children from their families[/tweetit] while 36 percent gave their unequivocal support.

Majority of White Evangelicals Oppose Migrant Parent-Child Separation[/tweetthis]

When it came to other religious groups, about 74 percent of Catholics and 60 percent of the white mainline Protestants oppose parent-child separation. Among the non-white Protestants, an overwhelming 87 percent are opposed to such government action. 82 percent of Americans who consider themselves unaffiliated to any religion oppose family separation by border control authorities.

When it came to the issue of the United States setting a moral example to the rest of the world, only 40 percent of Americans believe this to be the case. A majority to the tune of 58 percent think the U.S. has set a bad example. These percentages have consistently remained the same from the time of the last U.S. administration. Only 43 percent believed America set a good moral standard to the world in 2015.

The backlash against the controversial practice was so intense that President Trump signed the executive order to end the May-enacted zero-tolerance policy. The policy advocated treating any undocumented immigrant crossing the border as a criminal. The result was family separations in consonance with the Flores Settlement Agreement signed in 1997. The courts will examine such actions. On June 26, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to reunify families with their children under five years of age. The unification, as per the order, must occur within 14 days. Children above five years of age must be united with their parents within 30 days.

When it comes to the general American public, only 22 percent exhibited strong support for such draconian measures. Over 71 percent of Americans fiercely oppose such a policy. A large number of Independents (76 percent) share the same view as 94 percent of Democrats in opposition of treating migrants as criminals.

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