This has been a particularly harrowing week for the rule of law, border security, and protecting the American people from criminal foreign invaders, after President Trump’s effort to deport illegal criminals was challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and a federal judge determined to stop him.
On Friday, March 15th, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg attempted to stop President Trump from sending planes containing enemy aliens and members of foreign gangs back to El Salvador, ordering the planes to be turned around and the criminals on board to be brought back to the United States.
The planes landed in El Salvador days ago, where the illegals on board are being processed, but activist groups are doing everything in their power to stop Trump from continuing to remove illegal criminals. But while the ACLU and judge Boasberg are fighting to stop President Trump from ejecting illegal criminals, the American people consistently support the President’s border security and deportation efforts, proving that these activist groups and rogue judges are at odds with the American people.
A new YouGov survey taken March 6 through March 10 looking at the public response to Trump’s immigration and deportation strategies so far shows broad solidarity among the general public, including swing voters.
Americans support Trump’s approach to border security by nineteen points, 57 percent to 38 percent, with a full 39 percent of the public strongly approving of Trump’s immigration strategy. This includes independents, who support Trump’s border security strategy by eighteen points – 55 percent to 37 percent. Even one-in-five Harris voters support Trump’s immigration approach.
On deportation specifically, Americans support Trump’s deportation efforts by fifteen points, 54 percent to 39 percent. A full 36 percent of Americans strongly support the President’s approach to deporting those in the United States illegally. Independents support deportation by fourteen points, 51 percent to 37 percent.
As for deporting criminals specifically, an AP-NORC poll from January found that an overwhelming majority of Americans support removing violent criminals who are inside the United States illegally.
According to that poll, a full 83 percent of Americans favor deporting violent criminals from the United States back to their home countries, with 65 percent strongly favoring the move. Democrats (79 percent) and independents (77 percent) favor deportation of violent criminals, as do the overwhelming majority of Republicans.
Judge Boasberg’s order was in direct opposition to President Trump’s classification of Venezuelan drug-cartels as enemy aliens, which would allow the president to remove them from the United Stats under the 1798 Alien Enemy Act. This is what President Trump was in the process of doing when the judge ordered him to return the planes to the United States.
Boasberg has also demanded that the Trump administration hand over flight details about the deportation flight times and details, showing a consistent desire to stop President Trump from removing illegal entrants into the United States.
President Trump is likely to take the case to the Supreme Court, considering the ACLU’s justification for stopping the removal of these groups rests on the theory that the modern immigration laws of 1952 and 1965 override a president’s ability to invoke the Alien Enemy Act, a precarious argument.
According to anonymous sources, Axios reports that Trump’s team is gearing up to take the case to the Supreme Court, and hopes the Court will side with the administration and allow the administration to continue deporting illegals under the Alien Enemies Act — and he’s betting he will continue to have the support of the American people.
For now, while activist groups such as the ACLU are chasing an ideological dream where illegal criminals are welcomed into the United States with open arms, the vast majority of Americans support President Trump’s efforts to remove illegal criminals from the country and restore the rule of law.
Manzanita Miller is the senior political analyst at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
