Colleges give money to illegal immigrants, despite most Americans' opposition

The findings come as Campus Reform has reported on colleges giving aid to illegal immigrant students.

The majority of Americans say they do not favor providing COVID-19 economic assistance to illegal immigrants.

As a growing number of colleges continue to identify ways in which to provide economic aid to illegal immigrant students, a new survey has found that a majority of Americans do not approve of doing so. 

A Pew Research survey conducted April 29-May 5 found that just 37 percent of Americans approve of providing financial assistance to those in the country illegally. The same poll found that the demographic most likely to approve of offering economic aid to illegal immigrants was respondents with postgraduate degrees (42 percent). 

Meanwhile, 38 percent of respondents with a high school education or less favored giving economic aid to illegal immigrants. Those with “some college” (34 percent) and “college grads” (37 percent) were the least likely to favor financial assistance to illegals. 

[RELATED: UW gives money to illegal immigrants who don’t qualify for federal aid]

Young Americans between the ages of 18-29 were the most likely of any age group to favor economic assistance for illegal immigrants (49 percent). Thirty-seven percent of Americans 30-49 approved, while just 32 percent of Americans 50-64 approved and 34 percent of Americans 65 and over approved. 

But while most Americans oppose providing financial aid to illegal immigrants, the majority (68 percent) favored offering medical services to illegal immigrants with COVID-19. 

[RELATED: Colorado colleges dole out big bucks to illegal immigrants during economic crisis]

The results come as Campus Reform has reported on colleges providing illegal immigrant students with economic aid, including the University of Washington, which said it used “non-federal sources” to provide the assistance. Colleges in Colorado, including Colorado State University, the University of Colorado, and the Metropolitan State University of Denver, also offered illegal immigrants financial assistance, although the colleges say they are not using federal funding to provide those benefits. 

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