The tide of public opinion has shifted against Trump's immigration executive order

(Image credit: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

published 3 February 2017

After an initial Reuters poll found a plurality of Americans supported President Trump's executive order suspending U.S. entrance from seven majority-Muslim countries along with all refugee admissions, a new CBS survey sees a slim majority (51 percent) now oppose it. Some 45 percent still approve of the order.

As with the first poll, the CBS results are split sharply along partisan lines. While about 8 in 10 self-identified Republicans approve of the order, just 1 in 10 Democrats say the same. Independents are currently tilting left, with only 44 percent backing the rule.

One issue where Americans are considerably less divided is the question of religious preference for immigrants once admissions resume. While Trump has indicated he supports preferential treatment for Christians, strong majorities of Americans overall (88 percent) and American Christians specifically (87 percent) say the government should treat immigrants of every religion the same way. Fewer than 1 in 10 backed special treatment for Christians.

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Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.