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Poll: Pennsylvanians against accepting Syrians

By J.D. Prose jprose@calkins.Com 3 min read

Sixty percent of Pennsylvanians oppose having Syrian refugees settling in the state, while just 29 percent said they are in favor, according to a new poll released Tuesday.

Harris-burg-based Harper Polling found that 52 percent of Pennsylvanians “strongly oppose” allowing refugees into Pennsylvania while 8 percent were “somewhat” opposed. Twenty percent of respondents said they “strongly favor” resettling refugees here and 9 percent said they “somewhat” favored it.

Eleven percent of respondents said they were not sure if they favored or opposed resettlement in the state.

Syrian refugees have become a flashpoint of debate following the attacks in Paris Nov. 13 by the terrorist group ISIS. At least one of the terrorists reportedly entered France posing as a Syrian refugee and that has sparked a backlash in the United States, mainly among Republicans who argue that refugees from the war-torn country pose a security risk and should be banned.

In September, the Obama administration said 10,000 Syrian refugees would be accepted into the United States in 2016. After the Paris attacks, Gov. Tom Wolf said Pennsylvania would continue accepting refugees as Republicans in Congress sought to halt the flow of refugees from Syrian and Iraq based on security fears.

Thirty-one governors, all Republicans but one, have said they do not want Syrian refugees in their states although they do not have the authority to refuse immigrants approved by the federal government.

On Monday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, went a step further by threatening to cut-off funding and sue aid groups that assist refugees though legal experts said he does not have the power to do so.

Respondents in southwest Pennsylvania oppose the state taking in Syrian refugees 66 percent to 25 percent, Harper reported. Opposition to refugees was consistent across the state with 58 percent opposed in the Philadelphia/southeast region and 52 percent opposed in the Scranton/Lehigh Valley area.

By political affiliation, 75 percent of Republicans oppose allowing Syrian refugees into the state while 50 percent of Democrats and 51 percent of independents said they do. Harper reported that 64 percent of men oppose resettling refugees here while 58 percent of women do.

Harper also asked voters about their confidence in the direction of the state, which has been without a budget since July 1 as Wolf and Republican legislators have failed to agree on a spending plan.

Sixty-four percent of voters said Pennsylvania is on the “wrong track” compared to 20 percent who said it is headed in the right direction. That pessimism was seen regardless of party affiliation with 75 percent of Republicans, 56 percent of Democrats and 51 percent of independents saying the state is on the wrong track.

Harper polled 545 likely voters in Pennsylvania last month. The margin of error is 4.19 percent.

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