By Jonathan Walsh
Rabat - A new study has shown that almost half of all people living in the state of Texas support banning Muslims from entering the United States.
The poll, which was conducted online by the University of Texas in partnership with the Texas Tribune, questioned 1,200 citizens on several of Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump’s policies.
Results show that46 percent of citizens support the ban of Muslims.
The results became more fragmented when party orientation was taken into account. This showed that only 42 percent of Democrats in the state support the ban, compared to 62 percent of Republicans.
Trump first proposedthe policy in November 2015 to strong criticism, and many expected that it would negatively affect his campaign to gain Republican candidacy. In reality, his support increased.
A series of interviews with Muslims living in Texas published by The Star, in response to these findings, show widespread fear of increased anti-Islamic rhetoric.
Ali Zakaria, a litigator living in Texas, told the paper that “a lot of times, I question whether the US is still going to accept me as an American who happens to be a Muslim.”
“It almost feels like its like Nazi Germany all over again,” said ShujaRab, another interviewee.
Results also showed that a majority of Texans are also in support of Trump’s proposal to deport illegal immigrants in America, of which there are currently 12 million.
Many have questioned the accuracy of the poll, which itself claims to have a 4.2 percent margin of error for Democrats and 5.4 percent for Republicans. The use of a pre-selected sample over a random sample, which is typically the most common method when collecting data of this nature, has been highlighted as an issue.
Regardless of how well it truly represents Texans’ views on Islam, it certainly serves to make the upcoming ‘Super Tuesday’, in which 11 states will vote in primary elections, even more interesting.
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