On Friday, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order that suspended entry to the United States for citizens of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen for 90 days; bans all refugees from entry for 120 days; and bars all Syrian refugees from entering the United States indefinitely.
The poll, released on Tuesday, found that 49 percent of American adults either “somewhat” or “strongly” agree with the effort to enact stronger vetting. Meanwhile, 41 percent either “somewhat” or “strongly” disagree. The remaining 10 percent responded that they are unsure.
Predictably, the opinions were sharply divided along party lines, with 53 percent of Democrats strongly disagreeing, and 51 percent of Republicans strongly agreeing.
Additionally, the survey found that 31 percent of Americans feel “more safe” with the temporary restrictions, and just 26 percent feel “less safe.”
“Democrats were more than three times as likely as Republicans to say that the ‘US should continue to take in immigrants and refugees,’ and Republicans were more than three times as likely as Democrats to agree that ‘banning people from Muslim countries is necessary to prevent terrorism,’” Reuters reports.
The poll was conducted from January 30-31, using responses from 453 Democrats and 478 Republicans.
