Anchor stunned as poll shows Americans want to deport illegal migrants (2024)

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CBS News host Margaret Brennan appeared to be completely taken aback on her Sunday morning show, Face The Nation, after a recent poll appeared to suggest that the majority of Americans support the deportation of all illegal immigrants in the country.

Brennan noted how President Joe Biden has deported and repatriated more people in the past year than any year since 2010, noting how such deportations were legally and practically complex.

The CBS News/YouGov poll, conducted between June 5-7, found that 62 percent of registered voters favored a government program to deport all illegal immigrants.

'Homeland Security says that President Biden has already deported or repatriated more people in the past year than any year since 2010. And then, depending on the details of what's talked about on the campaign trail, some of what Mr. Trump talks about could be illegal,' Brennan said.

'It doesn't seem practical, in some sense, to round up children. And then we know that the courts have questioned whether local authorities would have the ability to do it, and federal authorities don't have the resources. So what exactly do people think they're supporting?'

Brennan questioned what people thought they were supporting, given that courts have raised doubts about the feasibility of local authorities to carry out such actions, and federal resources are limited.

The poll also showed that a majority of voters supported Biden's recent executive action at the southern border.

Anthony Salvanto, CBS Director of elections and surveys, explained that while support for deportation was predominantly among Trump supporters, some Democrats also backed the idea.

Salvanto emphasized that public sentiment captured in polls often reflects broad opinions rather than detailed policy specifics.

'When you measure public sentiment on this or really just about any policy, you're getting a sense of direction. You're getting broad brushstrokes,' Salvanto explained.

He also explained that many voters believe the current system is not working, fueling support for drastic measures to take effect.

'A lot of folks do say "yes." Again, the details of that, the specifics, you're not going to pick that up in an aggregate public opinion,' he said.

'We are in a different era in which a lot of folks say the system as a whole is not working. And all of these, if you connect the dots through them, are part of that reaction against it, which explains some of that general sentiment for some of these policies,' Salvanto went on.

Brennan conceded that she believed Americans generally want the government to take decisive actions and 'do something'.

Trump has proposed using the National Guard to deport illegal immigrants, planning what he calls 'the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.'

In contrast, Biden's recent executive actions at the southern border aims to manage asylum claims and control border crossings more effectively.

The Biden administration has introduced measures to suspend the entry of migrants across the southern border once the number of average border encounters in a day hits 2,500 for seven days in a row.

The idea is to make is easier to remove newly arrived migrants should they not have a legal basis to remain in the U.S.