A recent Politico/Morning Consult poll shows that a majority of Americans support President Donald Trump’s travel ban on individuals from six Muslim-majority countries.

The result of the survey shows that a full 60% of American voters support the ban in its current form, a relatively strong level of support for a President that has had a series of well-publicized polls showing voter disapproval of policies and dissatisfaction with Trump in general.

The “Trump Muslim Ban” began as one of Trump’s most controversial campaign platform issues, beginning in 2015 when he called for a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the United States “until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on.”

A political firestorm erupted following the announcement, with many in the media and justice system referring to the “Muslim Ban” as a racist policy, and “un-American”.

President Trump rolled out an executive order directing the ban shortly after entering office on January 27th, at the time including seven countries: Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. It banned entry for citizens of these countries for 90 days, and indefinitely for those from Syria. Judges in New York and Massachusetts’s immediately blocked the order while Trump defended its implementation.

After a series of legal actions through February, Trump unveiled a new travel ban on March 6th. The only notable changes were the exclusion of Iraq from the list of countries affected—now down to six—and added a 120-day stay on refugees entering the country. An attorney in Hawaii filed a lawsuit against the ban, and a US District Court in Hawaii blocked the ban just before it was set to begin.

On June 26th, the Supreme Court approved the travel ban with the addition of an exception to individuals from those six countries who have “any bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.” This includes foreigners with family connections in the U.S., students at an American university, and workers with existing job offers in the U.S. The court ruled that the ban would go into effect immediately and that it would hear arguments in the case in October. Since June 29th, the travel ban has been in effect.

Since polling began on support for the travel ban, Republicans have strongly supported its implementation (84% in favor), with Democrats generally against the policy (46% oppose, 41% approve), with slight fluctuations around those numbers. Independents have been in favor of the ban, with 56% supporting.

The Trump Administration insists the 90-day ban is necessary to reassess and revamp vetting procedures for individuals from those countries as a means to promote national security. The countries chosen are considered state sponsors of terrorism or “has been significantly compromised by terrorist organizations or contains active conflict zones.” This “diminishes the foreign government’s willingness or ability to share or validate important information about individuals seeking to travel to the United States.”

Featured Image courtesy of the Executive Office of the President of the United States