A new poll shows Americans are not buying Donald Trump’s arguments in the Kilmar Abrego Garcia case.
Abrego Garcia, is a Salvadoran citizen who was living in Maryland with his wife, who is American citizen, and their children, until last month when he was deported to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country.
Though the Trump administration has described his deportation as an “error” and the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the administration must “facilitate” his return, the Trump administration has said he will not be returning to the U.S.
A YouGov/The Economist poll released on Wednesday, shows that 50 percent of respondents said they think Abrego Garcia should be returned to the United States and 28 percent said they do not think he should be brought back.
Trump administration officials have accused Abrego Garcia of being affiliated with MS-13 gang. They have provided no evidence to support this claim and Abrego Garcia has no criminal convictions in the U.S.
Asked about the Trump administration’s allegation, 27 percent says Abrego Garcia is a MS-13 gang member, while 30 percent say he isn’t and 43 percent aren’t sure.
The poll shows more problems for Trump as a growing number of Americans are now opposing his handling of immigration resulting in a net negative rating on the issue the first time since he returned to office in the YouGov/Economist poll.
45 percent of Americans approve of the way Trump is handling immigration while 50 percent disapprove. That is down from the 50 percent approval and 44 percent disapproval from just two weeks ago.
Overall, 54 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s performance as president so far and 41 percent approve.
Trump’s popularity is also declining among Republicans, falling from 93% to 86%, from 40% to 30% among Independents, and from 10% to 7% among Democrats.
The poll was conducted among 1,625 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of U.S. adult citizens. It has a margin of error of approximately 3.3%.
