Poll Finds ONE QUARTER of Republicans Think Mexico is ‘Enemy’ or ‘Unfriendly’ to United States
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While most Americans view Mexico as an “ally” or “friendly” to the United States, Republicans were twice as likely as Democrats to view our neighbor to the south as an “enemy” or “unfriendly” to the U.S. in a new poll.
A The Economist/YouGov poll released this week asked respondents “Do you consider the countries listed below to be an ally or an enemy of the United States?”
Overall, 63 percent of respondents said that Mexico is either an “ally” (17%) or “friendly” (46%) to the U.S., including 60 percent of Republicans. But while just 12 percent of Democrats viewed Mexico as an “enemy” or “unfriendly,” 24% of Republicans placed Mexico in one of those categories.
Among Independents, one in five viewed Mexico as “unfriendly” or an “enemy” to the United States.
The southern border with Mexico has been in the news a lot recently, with intense coverage devoted to the large number of unaccompanied minors who have been crossing the border, and President Joe Biden’s policy of allowing them to stay in the United States rather than turning them away.
That change in policy has caused overcrowding and poor conditions at border facilities, which some news outlets have characterized as a “crisis,” although the Associated Press has urged reporters to avoid that terminology.
The Biden administration has defended the policy, even as they struggle to keep up with the needs of the unaccompanied minors, on the grounds that it would be inhumane to turn them away.
According to the YouGov poll, Americans overwhelmingly agree. When asked “Which comes closest to your view about children who arrive at the border without a parent or guardian?”, only 28 percent of respondents said they should be “turned away.”
But among Republicans, 49 percent said the United States should turn unaccompanied children away, and a whopping 58 percent of Trump voters favored this. Republicans (61%) and Trump voters (67%) were also the only groups to say that every undocumented immigrant in the U.S. should be forced to leave.
