What Likely Voters Think of Trump’s Family Separation

Surveys show that the Trump Administration’s policy of separating families at the border has been very unpopular, with an average of 64% of registered voters opposing the policy. But sometimes asking people whether they “support” or “oppose” a policy doesn’t fully capture how they feel, so instead, we asked a national sample of likely voters:

What is the first word that comes to mind when you [read/hear] the following information from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security: In recent months the U.S. Government has placed many young children into custody after separating them from their migrant parents at the border.

The word cloud below summarizes the intense reactions likely voters had to separating migrant families. The larger the word, the more often it was said by our respondents: fully 24% of our sample said the first word that came to their mind was “sad” (108 respondents), “horrible” (75), “wrong” (72), or “disgusting” (71).

About the survey:  A national sample of 1,379 likely voters interviewed online and by phone, July 3-12, 2018. The survey was funded by Cornell’s Center for the Study of Inequality.

Thanks to Peter K. Enns Associate Professor of Government and Executive Director of the Roper Center at Cornell University, Jonathon P. Schuldt Associate Professor of Communication at Cornell University and Adrienne Scott, Ph.D. Student in Government at Cornell University.