Texas supports deportation of illegals

Texas Tribune:

Almost half of the state’s voters support banning non-U.S. Muslims from entering the country, and more than half support immediate deportation of undocumented immigrants now living in the United States, according to the latest University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll.

“I really see evidence of how the combination of the politics of national security and terrorism have merged in Texas with the politics of immigration and border security,” said Jim Henson, co-director of the poll and the head of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin. “We see a lot of reluctance, particularly among conservatives, to open the state’s borders to outsiders — almost any way that you ask.”

Forty-six percent of Texas voters said they would support a ban on non-citizen Muslims entering the country, while 41 percent said they would oppose it. Within those groups, 26 percent said they would “strongly support” such a ban and 22 percent said they would “strongly oppose” one.
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Just more than half of the voters said they would disapprove of accepting Syrian refugees into Texas even with a security clearance process in place. Another 36 percent said they would accept those refugees.
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Asked about immigration in general, a small majority — 53 percent — agree with this statement: “newcomers from other countries enrich Texas with their hard work and values.” About a third disagreed with that statement.

A similar majority, however, agreed with this statement: “undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States should be deported immediately.” About two in five voters disagreed.
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While 38 percent of Hispanic voters in Texas agreed with the statement, 59 percent of white voters and 50 percent of black voters agreed. More than half of the Hispanic voters surveyed disagreed with the idea of immediate deportation.

Sanctuary cities, where “local law enforcement officials do not actively enforce some federal immigration laws,” have the support of only 21 percent of Texas voters; 59 percent oppose those policies.
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I think the failure to enforce US immigration laws is a national security issue.  That failure has led to an inability to screen those coming in to determine whether they are enemies of the country or gangsters.   That uncertainty has led to an overall suspicion of immigrants in general, which is unfortunate.  With respect to the screening of Syrian refugees, I think there is a lack of confidence in the process and in the administration in allowing them into the country.