Poll: Voters Split on Obama’s Executive Order on Immigration, President’s Approval Rating Nears All-Time Low

Official White House Photo by Pete Souza(WASHINGTON) — While Americans are split on President Obama’s immigration action made earlier this week, the Commander in Chief’s approval rating is nearing an all-time low, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released on Tuesday.

Asked — prior to the announced executive order — whether Obama should use executive order to address the immigration issue should Congress fail to act, 45 percent of respondents said the president should take matters into his own hands, while 48 percent said he should not.

Overall, support for undocumented immigrants has begun to erode, with 48 percent of American voters saying that they should be allowed to stay in the country with a path to citizenship — the lowest that figure has ever been in a Quinnipiac University poll and down from 57 percent in November 2013. Approximately 11 percent of respondents said undocumented immigrants should be allowed to stay but should not be allowed to apply for citizenship, while 35 percent believe that they should be forced to leave the U.S. — the highest that figure has ever been.

Obama’s approval rating has also dipped, as American voters gave him a 39-54 percent negative approval rating. His lowest-ever approval rating in a Quinnipiac University poll is 38-57 percent negative.

Only Democrats and voters under the age of 30 gave the president a positive approval rating.

Also of note, the poll found that Americans are strongly against the U.S. paying ransoms to terrorists holding American hostages — 70 percent of American voters said the U.S. should never do so, while just 21 percent said the nation should pay the ransoms.

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