A poll released by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs has found just 36 percent of Americans believe the U.S. should accept Syrian refugees.
Despite wide-spread reluctance on opening the floodgates to Syrian refugees, the Obama administration is bent on importing 10,000 of them by September’s end.
When broken down by political affiliation, the Monday poll indicates 56 percent of Democrats support the idea of bringing Syrian refugees to the U.S., compared to just 18 percent of Republicans and 32 percent of independents.
Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has said that if elected president, she’ll bump up the number of Syrian refugees settled in the U.S. to 65,000.
Republican support for inviting Syrian refugees in has dropped from 27 percent to its current figure of 18 percent, likely due to the recent spate of terror attacks, both in Europe and the U.S.
Independent support, too, has dropped from 40 percent to 32, but Democrats have remained relatively constant in their attitudes on importing refugees.
Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration Anne Richard said in early August about 8,000 have been settled up to this point. The administration is well on track to reach its goal, and may even exceed it, come September.
State governors are appalled by the idea of sending in refugees to their states, as many believe vetting procedures aren’t good enough to eliminate extremists and terrorist sympathizers.
The poll also asked respondents several other questions, such as whether the U.S. should bother sending arms to rebel groups looking to take down the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Only 26 percent of respondents agreed. Republicans and Democrats were both tied at 27 percent in the affirmative.
The poll was conducted from June 10-27, with a nationally representative sample size of 2,061 adults. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2-3.5 percentage points.