New CA-10 Poll Finds Voters Want Jeff Denham to Hold Administration Accountable for Family Separation Crisis
Months After Man-Made Crisis Started, Denham has Failed to Deliver Results
08.03.18 — Equity Forward Action today released a new poll which captures Representative Jeff Denham’s constituents’ views on the Trump Administration’s child separation policy and Congress’ role in holding the administration accountable for the policy. Voters in CA-10 make it clear that Denham has not done enough on the issue of family separations at the border and they want to see Congressional action to hold those responsible accountable.
View the Polls & Memo HERE.
Jeff Denham has spoken out against the administration’s policy, but he has not used his position to conduct any meaningful oversight or held any administration officials accountable for their conduct. Even though voters in Denham’s district lean Republican on party self-identification, the majority of his constituents (53%) say Denham has not done enough on the issue and two-thirds of voters (64%) say they want Congress to act by increasing the accountability and transparency of the agencies and officials overseeing the separated children.
Additionally, nearly eight in ten voters (79%) say that the Trump Administration has a responsibility to reunite the separated children with their parents, however nearly the same number (77%) say they have “very little” or only “some” confidence that the Trump administration will meet the deadlines to do so –including 58% who say they have “very little confidence.” Most voters (71%) also said they would be more favorable towards their Representative if he called for the Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement– an Office within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) which is charged with caring for the children and returning them to their parents, to testify before Congress about the reunification efforts and treatment of the children in its care. As the poll was fielded, hundreds of children separated from their families remained in ORR custody.
“For months, the administration separated children from their families at the border. HHS hasn’t been transparent about how these children are being cared for, or in what conditions. What’s Rep. Jeff Denham done? He has failed to take any meaningful action to solve the problem or hold those responsible for their conduct,” said Mary Alice Carter, Executive Director of Equity Forward. “Denham has broad oversight of the agencies tasked with handling this manufactured crisis. It’s time for Denham to do his job, get to the bottom of what happened, and hold the Trump Administration responsible for this cruel policy.”
The poll was released as part of “HHS Watch” an Equity Forward project to promote transparency and accountability at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
About this polling
Global Strategy Group conducted surveys of 400 likely 2018 Midterm election voters in California’s 10th Congressional District between July 24-27, 2018. The results of each survey have a margin of error of +/-4.9%. Care has been taken to ensure the geographic and demographic divisions of the expected electorate are properly represented based on historical turnout.
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