Tennesseans More Divided On Immigration, Border Wall And Travel Ban

A new poll of Tennesseans finds that they are almost evenly divided on several questions about immigration, refugees, and President Donald Trump’s attempt to create a travel ban from seven majority-Muslim nations.

The polarized findings from Nashville-based iCitizen gauge feelings since the election — and show a deeper divide than
what other researchers found months ago.

For example, there’s practically a 50-50 split on whether to build a wall at the Mexican border (50% in favor, 49% opposed) and on the president’s refugee and seven-nation travel ban (50% support, 49% opposed). On these two subjects, there aren’t many people waffling — it’s either strong support or fierce opposition from 93 percent of respondents.

“Tennesseans have a clear split down the middle when it comes to issues of immigration, refugees, and values. Differences in age, gender, and partisan identification amplify this divide,” iCitizen concluded, adding that, ” ‘independents’ tip the scale in opposition to Trump’s executive actions.”

The poll also turned up this conflict: While a majority (59%) said refugees should be allowed in, half of people (52%) said they’re concerned that refugees pose a security risk.

There was just one question with a really clear message. Tennesseans overwhelmingly said they believe that race relations are getting worse.

This poll specifically included Tennessee adults who represent the state’s demographics in age, gender, race and political party affiliation. The margin of error for the full sample is +/- 4.42 percentage points.