According to a recent poll, slightly more than half of Americans oppose the United States taking in Syrian refugees—even if the refugees pass a “government security screening.”
YouGov asked 1,000 Americans, “Do you favor or oppose the US taking in Syrian refugees who pass a government security screening?”
The poll found 32 percent of Americans “favor” letting in Syrian refugees who pass a security screening, while 51 percent “oppose” accepting the Syrian refugees.
When the question was whether governors should accept Syrian refugees that have passed a federal screening into the states where the respondents are living, 28 percent replied their governor should “accept Syrian refugees” while 54 percent responded their governor should “reject Syrian refugees.”
The poll found 15 percent of Republicans, 24 percent of Independents, and 47 percent of Democrats support their governors accepting Syrian refugees.
At the same time, 76 percent of Republicans, 56 percent of Independents, and 32 percent of Democrats said their state governors should reject the Syrian refugees.
Individuals living in the West were most likely to support accepting Syrian refugees into their states, although a plurality still opposed accepting the refugees (40 percent said to “accept” then, 45 percent voted to “reject”). Those living in the Northeast were most likely to oppose accepting Syrian refugees (23 percent voted “accept,” and 60 percent to “reject”).
Currently, 31 governors have said they will not accept Syrian refugees.
The YouGov survey was conducted from Nov. 17-19 through the Web. The margin of error is 4.1.