Conflicted Public Reaction to Trump ' s Immigration Executive Order

Last Friday, President Trumpissued an executive order temporarily barring entry of refugees, visitors, and immigrants —including those with green cards—from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. During this delay, the government is tasked with making its screening process more extensive. The order indefinitely bans refugees from Syria.As Henry Entennotes, we ’ll have to wait until we have more polling data to ascertain how the public will judge the action, but polling over the past year gives us some clues.Slim but Shy Support Most polls throughout 2015-2016 found about 56% of Americans opposed Trump ’s call to temporarily ban Muslim immigrants from entering the United States. However, these polls tended to be conducted bylive telephone interviewers. In contrast, polls conductedonline by reputable firms like YouGov and Morning consult, find a plurality of Americans in support.Aggregating over 40 telephone and online polls conducted over the past two years finds Americans opposed to the ban 56% to 39% in surveys conducted by phone, but a plurality in support 49% to 39% in surveys conducted online. This suggests that people taking surveys by phone feel uncomfortable sharing their true feelings and thus fib to the live interviewers. But, privately taking a survey online encourages people to share what they really think. In the polling world, this is called “social desirability bias” evoked by social pressure to not appear prejudiced to the live intervi...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs