In the wake of the shooting of Kate Steinle by a criminal alien who had been deported 5 times, a new poll shows that American voters want to clamp down on so-called "sanctuary cities" that refuse to enforce immigration laws. The accused, Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez, said in an interview that he came back to San Francisco because he knew it to be a sanctuary city where he would not be pursued by immigration officials.
In the poll by Rasmussen Reports, 62% of Likely U.S. Voters think the U.S. Justice Department should take legal action against cities that provide sanctuary for illegal immigrants. Only 26% of respondents oppose such an action. When broken down based on political ideology, 79% of Republicans, 65% of unaffiliated voters, and 43% of Democrats believe the Justice Department should take action.
When asked if Congress should use the power of the purse to pull federal funds to sanctuary cities, a 58% majority believe they should. Only 32% disagree and 10% are unsure.
In addition to San Francisco, numerous major cities in the United States are now sanctuary cities including New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Miami, Denver, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston and Detroit. You can view a map of sanctuary cities here.
The survey of 1,000 Likely U.S. Voters was conducted on July 8-9, 2015 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC.
Read the full survey at Rasmussen Reports
