Where Data Tells the Story
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Six in ten U.S. adults oppose the government deporting people to foreign prisons in El Salvador, Rwanda or Libya without allowing them to challenge their deportation in court. This is according to a survey of more than 5,000 people by the Public Religion Research Institute, conducted between May 16-28. Of these, 36 percent said they strongly oppose it, while 37 percent said they support it. The survey found that Republicans were nearly eight times as likely as Democrats to favor the deportation of undocumented migrants to foreign prisons without due process, while roughly one third of independents supported the action.
The survey was conducted two months after the U.S. deported 137 Venezuelans to El Salvador. The Trump Administration had envoked the wartime Alien Enemies Act of 1798 on March 15 to deport Venezuelans accused of being gang members, without requiring legal due process for non-U.S. citizens who are considered a national security threat. According to the newswire AP, the men deported under the act did not receive the opportunity to challenge the orders, despite the attorneys of many of the men stating that there is no evidence they are gang members.
The International Rescue Committee warns that expulsions to third countries can “expose people to immediate harm in that third-country, including being held in immigration detention centers or prisons.” Furthermore, it “places some of them at risk of being sent back to the home country they originally fled if such a third-country lacks fair and accessible asylum procedures, known as chain refoulement.”
Since this poll was taken, the White House has intensified its anti-immigration stance, with sweeping ICE raids and an increased quota from 1,000 to 3,000 arrests of migrants in the U.S illegally per day. This includes a shift towards also arresting people who have not been accused of crimes.
The PRRI is an American nonprofit research and education organization that conducts public opinion polls, largely focused on religion and cultural issues.