New OR-02 Poll Finds Voters Want Greg Walden to Hold Administration Accountable for Family Separation Crisis
Months After Man-Made Crisis Started, Walden has Failed to Deliver Results
08.03.18 — Equity Forward Action today released a new poll which captures Representative Greg Walden’s constituents’ views on the Trump Administration’s child separation policy and Congress’ role in holding the administration accountable for the policy. Voters in OR-02 make it clear that Walden 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.
Greg Walden is the Chairman of the House Energy & Commerce Committee, which has direct oversight responsibilities of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office of Refugee Resettlement, the agencies responsible for caring for and housing the migrant children separated from their families. Walden has not conducted any meaningful oversight of the policy or held any administration officials accountable for their conduct.
Even though voters in Walden’s district lean Republican on party self-identification, half of his constituents (49%) say Walden has not done enough on the issue and two-thirds of voters (68%) in the district say they want Congress to act by increasing the accountability and transparency of the agencies and officials overseeing the separated children.
Additionally, while the vast majority of voters (71%) say that the Trump Administration has a responsibility to reunite these children with their parents, more than half of voters in each district (56%) say they have “very little” confidence that the Trump Administration will meet the deadline to reunite these families. Eight in ten voters (80%) said they would have a more favorable view of their Representative if he supported legislation to increase transparency on this issue and most voters (71%) also said they would be more favorable of him 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. Greg Walden 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. “Walden has broad oversight of the agencies tasked with handling this manufactured crisis. It’s time for Walden 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 Oregon’s 2nd 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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