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Poll: Most Americans against constructing more border walls

By Ray Downs
A Gallup poll found 57 percent of Americans were against constructing new walls along the 2,000-mile border, which currently has about 650 miles of walls and fences. File Photo by Joebeth Terriquez/ EPA-EFE
A Gallup poll found 57 percent of Americans were against constructing new walls along the 2,000-mile border, which currently has about 650 miles of walls and fences. File Photo by Joebeth Terriquez/ EPA-EFE

June 20 (UPI) -- A majority of Americans oppose significantly expanding the construction of new walls along the U.S.-Mexico border, a Gallup poll released Wednesday indicates.

The poll found 57 percent were opposed to the idea of constructing new walls along the nearly 2,000-mile border, which currently has about 650 miles of fences and walls. Forty-one percent of those polled were in favor of building new walls.

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Although the majority of those polled were opposed to building new walls, Republicans were overwhelmingly in favor of the idea, which has been pushed by President Donald Trump. Seventy-three percent of Republicans want more border barriers, while 13 percent of Democrats agreed.

On the question of whether undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as children should be allowed to become U.S. citizens "if they meet certain requirements over a period of time," there was more bipartisan agreement.

Eighty-three percent were in favor of a pathway to citizenship for these immigrants, with 92 percent of Democrats and 75 percent of Republicans in agreement.

Americans were somewhat split on the question of banning so-called "sanctuary cities" by forcing them to comply with federal immigration laws, with 50 percent in favor of a ban and 46 percent against it. Four percent said they were unsure.

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Despite the near split, partisanship appeared to play a role in one's opinion, with 77 percent of Republicans and 29 percent of Democrats in favor of a ban.

Most Americans -- 52 percent -- were opposed to ending programs that allow legal immigrants to sponsor relatives from other countries to come to the U.S. as permanent residents, with 43 percent in favor.

Democrats outnumbered Republicans in favor of ending these programs, 47 percent to 43 percent.

Gallup surveyed 1,520 adults between June 1-13 by telephone for the poll, which had a 3 percent margin of error for results based on the total sample of national adults.

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