Sindy Benavides, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, holds her young daughter at a press conference on Capitol Hill Tuesday about ending family separations at the U.S.-Mexico border. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

June 22 (UPI) -- More than half of American voters say parents are to blame when child migrants are separated from families illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a Rasmussen poll.

Poll respondents were asked: "When families are arrested and separated after attempting to enter the United States illegally, who is more to blame -- the parents for breaking the law or the federal government for enforcing the law?"


While 54 percent blamed parents, 35 percent blamed the federal government and 11 percent were unsure.

Along party lines, 82 percent of Republicans blamed the parents, while 60 percent of Democrats blamed the federal government. Among unaffiliated voters, 56 percent said parents were more to blame.

Nearly half of voters -- 49 percent -- said the administration is too aggressive in its attempt to stop illegal immigration, while 25 percent say it's not aggressive enough and 21 percent said the administration's efforts are about right.

That opinion differs among party lines, with 75 percent of Democrats saying the Trump administration has been too aggressive, compared to 23 percent of Republicans and 46 percent of unaffiliated voters.

Rasmussen's poll included 1,000 U.S. respondents and has a margin of error of 3 points.