CNN panelists expressed Tuesday how stunned they are that presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s mass deportation policy has entered “the mainstream.”
As President Joe Biden prepared to announce a second executive order Tuesday regarding the U.S.-Mexico border, CNN host Dana Bash led a panel discussion reflecting on America’s support for Trump’s mass deportation policy. The CNN host was taken aback that Hispanic support for Trump’s mass deportation policy more than tripled, rising to 53% in June from 17% in Sept. 2016.
“Seeing those numbers as percentages side by side, talking about an eight-year period. It really tells the story of how potent this issue is far beyond the communities who are directly affected,” Bash said.
“To me the biggest delta there. And the math — correct my math. On the Hispanic number, 53% to 17% — that’s remarkable,” CNN panelist and Axios political reporter Hans Nichols said. “You see something similar like this happen with the whole conversation around tariffs and China. Things that Donald Trump talked about in 2016 that were out of the bounds within the Republican Party, and now they’ve entered in the mainstream.” (RELATED: Biden Triples Down On Major Trump Policy After Criticizing It During 2020 Campaign)
“And the top-line number there is, what, 62% supporting deportation? That’s a remarkable number,” he continued. “And, you know, it’s just one poll, but it seems like to bare out across a lot of polls.”
Trump’s mass deportation policy currently polls at 62% total support among voters — 23% more than in Sept. 2016. Within eight years, white support jumped 22% while black support increased by 14%, according to polling from YouGov and CBS, as well as the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Biden took executive action related to the southern border June 4. The president did not place a hard-stop on illegal crossings taking place at the U.S.-Mexico border, but rather capped new asylum requests after illegal migrant crossings reach a daily average of 2,500 over the span of one week. Under the order, asylum requests can continue as soon as the daily average falls back to 1,500.
