Poll: Most don’t believe illegal immigrants commit more crime

Most Americans do not believe that immigrants commit more crimes than U.S. citizens, a poll released Tuesday found. 

The Quinnipiac University poll found that 72 percent of Americans don’t think “undocumented immigrants commit more crimes than American citizens do,” despite arguments to the contrary from President Trump and some Republicans.

Thirteen percent of Americans believe those immigrants do commit more crimes than citizens, the poll found.

In addition, 63 percent of respondents said they don’t think “undocumented immigrants take jobs away” from citizens, compared to 33 percent who think that is the case.

Earlier Tuesday, Trump said the death of NFL player Edwin Jackson could have been prevented with tougher border security and immigration laws. Jackson was reportedly killed by a suspected drunken driver who is in the U.S. illegally.

Trump has in the past pointed to crimes allegedly committed by immigrants in the country illegally to push for stricter immigration laws.

A Trump campaign ad released last month called Democrats “complicit” in murders committed by such immigrants.

The Quinnipiac poll was conducted from Feb. 2-5, and has a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.

The poll’s release coincides with ongoing discussions in Congress about immigration reform. 

Bipartisan proposals aimed at addressing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and border security have failed to satisfy the White House thus far.

The Trump administration has outlined a proposal that would give a pathway to citizenship for nearly 2 million immigrants in exchange for tens of billions of dollars in funding for border security increases and cuts to legal immigration.