(The Hill) — A new poll shows a plurality of Americans oppose President Trump’s National Guard deployment to cities like D.C. and Los Angeles.
An NPR-Ipsos poll published Saturday found that 49 percent of respondents oppose the deployment of National Guard troops to a major city in their state for law enforcement efforts, while 38 percent said they would support the move and 12 percent said they were unsure.
Fifty percent of participants said they oppose efforts allowing federal officers to make immigration-related stops with fewer restrictions. Thirty-five percent said they support the measure and 13 percent said they were unsure of how to feel about the topic.
The findings come after President Trump sent soldiers to Los Angeles over the summer to quell immigration protests and follow his attempt to crack down on crime in the nation’s capital, which encouraged Republican governors to send troops from more than six states.
More recently, Trump ordered boots on the ground in Memphis, Tenn., a city that has recorded the national highest crime rate at 2,501 violent crimes per 100,000 people, according to data from the FBI. The president on Saturday said he also will send National Guard troops to Portland, Ore., to “protect” the city and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities from antifa and other “domestic terrorists.”
The NPR-Ipsos poll found that 46 percent of people opposed National Guard troops being sent to Memphis, specifically, for law enforcement efforts. Thirty-five percent approved of the effort and 18 percent were unsure.
“I truly think it’s an abuse of power,” independent voter Darius Gamble told NPR regarding troops being sent to quell crime in major cities.
“Calling out the National Guard, I think, is truly excessive. It’s unwarranted. I don’t think it’s needed. And I think it’s just an overreach in regards to POTUS [President of the United States] abusing his power and authority,” he added.
Forty-eight percent of people said crime in the U.S. has increased, while 22 percent said it’s stayed the same, 16 percent said it’s decreased and 12 percent don’t know.
Statistics show crime has dropped since the COVID-19 pandemic, NPR reported.
“Around seven in ten Americans say that the level of crime and violence in American cities is at an unacceptable level,” Mallory Newall, Ipsos’s vice president, told the outlet. “The American public largely agrees that crime has increased in the U.S. and in major cities. They don’t broadly support the actions taken in the name of stopping crime, like calling in the National Guard.”
The NPR-Ipsos survey was conducted from Sept. 19-21 and reached 1,020 adults, with a 3.2 percentage point margin of error.
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