What Americans Think Of The Refugee "Caravan"

Posted on the 21 November 2018 by Jobsanger


These charts are from a new Monmouth University Poll -- done between November 9th and 12th of a national sample of 802 adults, with a margin of error of 3.5 points.
In an effort to instill fear in voters, Donald Trump relentlessly denigrated the refugee caravan hundreds of miles from our southern border. He tried to convince people that the members of the caravan were dangerous people -- composed of gang members and terrorists.
When you look at the two poll questions above, it might seem that he was successful (even though voters rejected the Republicans). About 86% said they had heard about the caravan. And 53% thought it was a threat to the United States (29% a major threat and 24% a minor threat).
But when you look a little deeper in the poll, you see that's not really true. As the charts below show, only 26% thought the caravan should be stopped and sent back, while 70% thought they should be given the opportunity to show they deserved to be let into the country (that they were persecuted and had no criminal record).
In addition, only 38% thought it was at least likely the caravan contained terrorists, while 50% did not think that was likely.
Trump did his best to scare voters, but they aren't as stupid as he thought they were.