--- description: A new poll reports 66 percent of respondents oppose the policy of separating children who illegally cross the border from their families. title: Republicans Were the Only Group in This Poll to Support Trump's Family Separation Policy image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb1d236e23c618c0c/6989334686f68e04496e970c/u-s-border-patrol-processing-center-in-mcallen.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Immigration](/tag/immigration/) ## Immigration Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Republicans Were the Only Group in This Poll to Support Trump's Family Separation Policy  by [Abby Vesoulis](/author/abby-vesoulis/)  ## Abby Vesoulis Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 18, 2018 7:07 PM CUT  In this photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, people who've been taken into custody related to cases of illegal entry into the United States, sit in one of the cages at a facility in McAllen, Texas In this photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, people who've been taken into custody related to cases of illegal entry into the United States, sit in one of the cages at a facility in McAllen, TexasUS CUSTOMS AND BORDER PATROL/HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock  by [Abby Vesoulis](/author/abby-vesoulis/)  ## Abby Vesoulis Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 18, 2018 7:07 PM CUT Two-thirds of Americans oppose a policy that has led to more than 2,000 children being separated from their parents at the U.S. border, and Republicans were the only group polled who support it. In a [survey](https://poll.qu.edu/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2550 "undefined") by Quinnipiac University, 66% of respondents said they oppose a Trump Administration policy that has led to family separations, while only 27% supported it. But Republicans in the poll backed the policy by 55%, the only party, gender, education, age or racial group to support it. Trump himself has [falsely blamed Democrats](http://time.com/5314769/family-separation-policy-donald-trump/ "undefined") for the policy and said that he is not happy with it. Adviser Kellyanne Conway said over the weekend that “nobody likes” the policy. “Nobody likes seeing babies ripped from their mothers’ arms,” [she said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”](https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/full-kellyanne-conway-nobody-likes-immigration-policy-separating-families-1257720387696 "undefined") “As a mother, as a Catholic, as somebody who has got a conscience. … I will tell you that nobody likes this policy.” Speaking at a White House event on space Monday, Trump [argued that Democrats could end the policy](http://time.com/5314769/family-separation-policy-donald-trump/ "undefined") imposed by Attorney General Jeff Sessions if they worked with Republicans to overhaul immigration laws. The poll surveyed over 900 voters across the country and had a margin of error of plus or minus approximately four percentage points. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5315110/family-separation-policy-polling-republicans/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5315110/family-separation-policy-polling-republicans/"},"headline":"Republicans Were the Only Group in This Poll to Support Trump's Family Separation Policy","datePublished":"2018-06-18T19:07:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T20:36:15.376Z","description":"A new poll reports 66 percent of respondents oppose the policy of separating children who illegally cross the border from their families.","url":"https://time.com/5315110/family-separation-policy-polling-republicans/","keywords":["Immigration","Polling","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb1d236e23c618c0c/6989334686f68e04496e970c/u-s-border-patrol-processing-center-in-mcallen.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Abby Vesoulis","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/abby-vesoulis/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb1d236e23c618c0c/6989334686f68e04496e970c/u-s-border-patrol-processing-center-in-mcallen.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Immigration Holding Facility, McAllen","caption":"Immigration Holding Facility, McAllen","creditText":"US CUSTOMS AND BORDER PATROL/HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/immigration/","name":"Immigration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5315110/family-separation-policy-polling-republicans/","name":"Republicans Were the Only Group in This Poll to Support Trump's Family Separation Policy"}}]}] ```