Survey Shows Opposition to Trump’s Immigration Crackdown

About an hour into his speech, Trump challenged lawmakers to stand if they agreed that “the first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens,” Andrew Romano reported for Yahoo Finance.

A Yahoo/YouGov poll found that 58% of Americans believe recent ICE raids in US cities have gone too far.

Senate Democrats have refused to continue funding the president’s immigration crackdown through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) without major reforms.

They have criticized administration policies, including incidents last month in Minneapolis in which federal agents fatally shot two US citizens.

Democrats remained seated, while Republicans stood and applauded for more than a minute.

Trump described violent crimes committed by undocumented immigrants and accused Democrats of “blocking the removal” of such individuals.

An internal DHS document obtained by CBS News showed that fewer than 14% of the nearly 400,000 immigrants arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during Trump’s first year back in office had charges or convictions for violent criminal offenses.

A Yahoo/YouGov poll found that 58% of Americans believe recent ICE raids in US cities have gone too far, and majorities support several reforms proposed by Democrats.