Only 29 Percent of Americans Approve of Obamas Handling of Immigration, Says Gallup
By Terence P. Jeffrey
The CNS News, August 12, 2010
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/71035
As the Senate reconvened on Thursday, taking a rare break from its August recess to pass a $600-million bill to fund border security provisions that had passed in a specially-reconvened-session of the House on Tuesday, new numbers from the Gallup Poll showed that only 29 percent of Americans approve of the way Obama is handling the immigration issue.
Obama is planning to sign the border-security bill on Friday.
Only 46 percent of Americans say they approve of the way Obama is handling the overall job of the presidency compared to 47 percent who say they disapprove, according to the most recent Gallup tracking numbers. Yet that is far better than the president is doing when it comes to immigration.
Sixty-two percent of Americans say they disapprove of the way Obama is handling immigration, and only 29 percent say they approve. That is the lowest approval rating Obama received for any of the 13 issues included in the Gallup poll.
Gallup combined the results of two recent surveysa survey of 1,208 adults conducted July 27-Aug. 1 for the USA Today/Gallup poll and a survey of 1,013 adults conducted separately Aug. 5-8–to determine how Americans view President Obamas performance on 13 different issues. The results showed there is only one issue that a majority of Americans believe the president is handling well: race relations.
Fifty-two percent said they approve of the way Obama is handing race relations and 38 percent said they disapprove.
When it comes to education (49 percent), terrorism (48 percent), energy policy (47 percent), foreign affairs (44 percent), the environment (43 percent), the situation in Iraq (41 percent), taxes (41 percent), healthcare policy (40 percent), the economy (38 percent), the situation in Afghanistan (36 percent), the federal budget deficit (31 percent) and immigration (29 percent), less than a majority say the approve of the way Obama is handling the issue.
A majority say they disapprove of the way Obama is handling eight of the 13 issues. These include the federal budget deficit (64 percent), immigration (62 percent), the economy (59 percent), healthcare policy (57 percent), the situation in Afghanistan (57 percent), taxes (54 percent), the situation in Iraq (53 percent) and the environment (51 percent).
Last month, President Obamas Justice Department sued the state of Arizona for enacting a law that directed local law enforcement officers to check the immigration status of any person they had lawfully stopped for another offense and for whom there was a reasonable basis to suspect they were illegally in the United States.
The bill Obama is planning to sign tomorrow will fund two new drone aircraft for border surveillance, 1,000 new Border Patrol agents, and 500 new Customs agents and officers.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The Gallup results are available online at: http://www.gallup.com/poll/141836/Issues-Obama-Finds-Majority-Approval-Elusive.aspx
