• Republican voters are standing by the Trump administration’s policy of separating families at the border, a new poll shows, despite the intense backlash and controversy surrounding the practice.
  • There’s a sharp divide between Republicans and the rest of the US when it comes to immigration.
  • According to Homeland Security numbers, roughly 2,000 migrant children have been separated from their parents in a recent span of approximately six weeks.

Republican voters are standing by the Trump administration’s policy of separating families at the border, a new poll shows, despite the intense backlash and controversy surrounding the practice.

A majority of Republicans (55%) support the separation policy, making GOP voters the only listed party, gender, education, age, or racial group in favor of it, according to a Quinnipiac poll released Monday.

Meanwhile, most Americans (66%) are opposed to the separation policy, while just 27% support it overall.

A majority of Americans (58%) stand against President Donald Trump’s plan to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. But most Republicans (77%) are again with the president when it comes to this matter.

Similarly, a CNN poll released Monday also found a majority of Republicans (58%) support separating families at the border, but showed most Americans (roughly two-thirds) are against the policy.

Based on these polls, there's a sharp divide between Republicans and the rest of the US when it comes to immigration.

With that said, a majority of Republican voters (61%) agree with most Americans (79%) that Dreamers, or immigrants who were brought to the US as children, should be allowed to remain in the country and apply for citizenship, according to the Quinnipiac poll.

Meanwhile, Trump is being broadly condemned for the separation policy.

In an op-ed for The Washington Post, former first lady Laura Bush wrote, "I live in a border state. I appreciate the need to enforce and protect our international boundaries, but this zero-tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral. And it breaks my heart."

Dr. Colleen Kraft, the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, on Monday said the separation of families at the border is a "form of child abuse."

Correspondingly, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, said Monday, "In the United States, I'm deeply concerned by recently adopted policies which punish children for their parents' actions. ... The thought that any State would seek to deter parents by inflicting such abuse on children is unconscionable."

Amid the public outcry, the Trump administration has offered inconsistent justifications for the separation policy, at times blaming Democrats for what's occurring.

But Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen stood by the administration's approach to immigration in a speech Monday, stating, "We have to do our job; we will not apologize doing for our job. ... This administration has a simple message: If you cross the border illegally, we will prosecute you."

According to Homeland Security numbers, roughly 2,000 migrant children have been separated from their parents in a recent span of approximately six weeks.

Addressing the detention of these children on Monday, Nielsen said, "It is important to know that these minors are very well taken care of. Don't believe the press."

Correspondingly, Trump on Tuesday doubled down on the separation policy during a speech, stating, "Politically correct or not, we have a country that needs security, that needs safety, that has to be protected."