New Polling Data from Key House Districts: Congress Has Not Done Enough to Address Family Separation Crisis
Constituents in CA-10, OR-02, TX-32 and WA-05 want their representatives to hold administration accountable
08.03.18 – Equity Forward Action today released four new polls that capture the views of constituents across four Congressional districts regarding the Trump Administration’s child separation crisis and the need for Congress to hold the administration accountable for the policy. Equity Forward Action polled constituents of the following four Congresspeople: Jeff Denham (CA-10), Greg Walden (OR-02), Pete Sessions (TX-32) and Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05).
View the Full Polls & Memos HERE.
Voters in these House districts — which lean Republican on party self-identification and are represented by Republican members of Congress — made clear that their member of Congress has not done enough to address family separations and want to see increased Congressional oversight and action to hold those responsible for the crisis accountable.
Additionally, voters overwhelmingly say that the Trump Administration has a responsibility to return these children to their parents and want their representative to increase transparency, accountability and oversight of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), an Office within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) which is charged with caring for and housing the separated children. As the poll went into the field, hundreds of children separated from their families remained in ORR custody.
“For months, the administration separated children from their families at the border. HHS Chief Alex Azar hasn’t been transparent about how these children are being cared for, or in what conditions. What has the House of Representatives done to hold Azar and others accountable? Representatives have 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. “Congress has broad oversight of the agencies tasked with handling this manufactured crisis. It’s time for these representatives to do their job, get to the bottom of what happened, and hold the Trump Administration responsible for this cruel behavior.”
Below please find highlights from each poll:
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Jeff Denham (CA-10) 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%) said they had “very little” or only “some” confidence that the Trump administration would meet the July 26 deadline to do so –including 58% who say they have “very little confidence.”
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Greg Walden (OR-02) Two-thirds of voters (68%) across the district say they want Congress to act by increasing the accountability and transparency of the agencies and officials overseeing the separated children. This is a bipartisan view with strong support from Democrats (82%), Independents (62%), and Republicans (62%).
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Pete Sessions (TX-32) The majority of Sessions’ constituents (54%) say their member of Congress has not done enough on the issue. While the vast majority of voters (83%) say that the Trump Administration has a responsibility to reunite these children with their parents, more than half of (56%) said they had “very little” confidence that the Trump Administration will meet the deadline to reunite these families.
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Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05) Two-thirds of voters (66%) across the district say they want Congress to act by increasing the accountability and transparency of the agencies and officials overseeing the separated children. Over three-quarters of voters (79%) said they would have a more favorable view of their member of Congress if she supported legislation to increase transparency on this issue
Today’s polling comes on the heels of a seven-figure campaign from Equity Forward to hold HHS Chief Alex Azar accountable for his role in the family separation crisis. The centerpiece of the campaign is a TV ad, “Disgrace,” which was released via a heavy six-figure ad buy in the Washington, DC, Virginia and Maryland metro area.
The campaign also targets Scott Lloyd, head of HHS’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), who has been kept out of the public eye since April 11th and hasn’t testified in front of Congress since October 2017. Lloyd has remained quiet even as reports surface of children in ORR custody being forced to endure inhumane conditions and abuse.
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 four districts between July 24 – 27, 2018. The districts included California’s 10th Congressional District, Oregon’s 2nd Congressional District, Texas 32nd Congressional District, and Washington’s 5th Congressional District. 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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