More than half of Americans says US should deport illegal immigrants: Poll

More than half of adult Americans believe the United States should deport illegal immigrants, including nearly half of Democratic respondents, according to a poll released on Thursday. 

Liberal sanctuary cities have received an influx of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers since the Biden administration relaxed border policies established under former President Donald Trump. New York City has taken in more than 180,000 asylum seekers since the spring of 2022, City and State New York reported, and Chicago has received more than 38,000 in the same time period, according to the New Yorker.

The Axios Vibes survey by The Harris Poll found that 51% of respondents, including 42% of Democrats, support the mass deportation of illegal immigrants. Nearly one third of Democrats (30%) and 46% of Republicans also support ending birthright citizenship, which was established under the 14th amendment of the United States Constitution. 

"I was surprised at the public support for large-scale deportations," Mark Penn, chairman of The Harris Poll told Axios. "I think they're just sending a message to politicians: 'Get this under control.'" 

Roughly one fifth of respondents (21%) said their biggest concern with illegal immigration was increased crime rates, drugs, and violence. But 18% said it was the additional costs to taxpayers to take in and house the illegal immigrants. The third biggest response was related to national security, which amounted to 17% of the responses.

Americans indicated they were open to former President Donald Trump's immigration plans, and rejected President Joe Biden's attempts to argue that Trump sabotaged his efforts to help with the border crisis, with 32% claiming Biden is most to blame for the crisis.

The poll was conducted from March 29-31, April 5-7 and 12-14, and polled 6,251 U.S. adults online, nationwide. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 1.5 percentage points.