Poll: Dim View of Trump and His Health Care and Immigration Policies

Californians deeply disapprove of President Trump, but they're closely divided on two major pieces of legislation that run completely counter to Trump's policies on health care and immigration.

In a new poll from the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), just 27 percent of Californians approve of the job Trump is doing as president, while 67 percent disapprove.

A majority of all adults (57 percent) and likely voters (64 percent) also have a negative view of the Republican health care bill that recently passed the House of Representatives.

And while support for the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, is split down the middle, a plan (Senate Bill 562) to create a single state government health plan, or "single-payer," wins approval of 65 percent of Californians.

However, support falls to just 42 percent if it means raising taxes to pay for it.

A recent analysis by the Senate Appropriations Committee put a price tag of $400 billion a year on the plan. But another analysis by the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst found a single-payer system would save the state money. That research was funded by a group affiliated with the California Nurses Association, the bill's lead sponsor.

The poll found strong negative feelings about one of President Trump's signature policies: a federal crackdown on illegal immigration.

By a 2-to-1 margin, Californians say increased federal immigration enforcement would have a negative impact on business and the economy. And 51 percent -- and a whopping 78 percent of Latinos -- say they worry that someone they know could be deported.

And yet there are very mixed feelings about legislation now being considered that could help protect undocumented immigrants from being forced to leave the country.

Senate Bill 54 would make California a "sanctuary state" with strict limits on how state and local governments can cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. The poll found that 48 percent favor SB 54 while 42 percent oppose it. The bill has passed the state Senate and is now in the Assembly.

The wide-ranging survey also found little support for a crackdown on legalized marijuana laws threatened by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Sixty percent of adults and 66 percent of likely voters say they oppose tighter enforcement of federal drug laws.

The poll found Californians generally unhappy with the nation's direction. Sixty-five percent of adults say the country is going in the wrong direction, while 29 percent say the United States is heading in the right direction.

While the views on many issues tend to fall along partisan lines, Republicans, Democrats and independents agree on one thing: They disapprove of the job Congress is doing. Eighty-two percent of Democrats, 73 percent of independents and 62 percent of Republicans are unhappy about the job the Republican-controlled Congress is doing.

Closer to home, 52 percent of adults approve of the job Gov. Jerry Brown is doing, while 46 percent give a thumbs-up to how the California Legislature is doing its job.

The poll was conducted May 12-22, 2017, and is based on a survey of 1,707 adult residents in California.