---
title: "6. Views of domestic issues: race, immigration, health care, abortion, Supreme Court"
description: "The issue of race has been a flashpoint in the 2016 presidential campaign and Clinton and Trump supporters are divided over whether the country pays too much – or not enough – attention to racial issues these days. Overall, 39% of registered voters say too much attention is paid to racial issues, while an almost […]"
date: "2016-10-27"
authors:
  - name: "Pew Research Center"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2016/10/27/6-views-of-domestic-issues-race-immigration-health-care-abortion-supreme-court/"
categories:
  - "Election 2016"
  - "U.S. Elections & Voters"
---

# 6. Views of domestic issues: race, immigration, health care, abortion, Supreme Court

The issue of race has been a flashpoint in the 2016 presidential campaign and Clinton and Trump supporters are divided over whether the country pays too much – or not enough – attention to racial issues these days.

Overall, 39% of registered voters say too much attention is paid to racial issues, while an almost equal share (41%) says too little attention is paid to these issues. Just 18% say that about the right amount of attention is paid to racial issues.

[![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/10/6_1.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2016/10/27/6-views-of-domestic-issues-race-immigration-health-care-abortion-supreme-court/6_1-5/)

Nearly two-thirds of Trump backers (65%) say too much attention is paid to racial issues in this country, while only 18% say these issues get too little attention. Among Clinton supporters, views are the reverse: 59% say too little attention is given to issues of race, compared with just 18%who say too much attention is paid to this topic.

By 66% to 17%, blacks are more likely to say there is not enough than too much attention paid to issues of race in this country. Among whites, 43% say racial issues get too much attention, while 35% say these issues get too little attention (20% say they get about the right amount of attention).

About half (52%) of Hispanics say there is too little attention paid to racial issues, compared with 30% who say too much attention is paid to these issues.

There are significant differences among whites on this question depending on which candidate they support in the upcoming election. A majority of white voters who support Clinton (57%) say there is not enough attention paid to racial issues. Among whites who back Trump, nearly two-thirds (65%) say there is too much attention paid to these issues.

### On immigration, most back path to legal status

[![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/10/6_2.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2016/10/27/6-views-of-domestic-issues-race-immigration-health-care-abortion-supreme-court/6_2-5/)

Nearly all Clinton supporters (95%) say there should be a way for undocumented immigrants currently in the country to stay here legally, if certain requirements are met. A smaller majority of Trump supporters (60%) also holds this view. There is somewhat more agreement between the two groups of supporters on this aspect of the immigration debate than on some others, [including views on building a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/10/20/6-charts-that-show-where-clinton-and-trump-supporters-differ/#immigration).

Voters who say undocumented immigrants should not be allowed to stay in the country legally were asked a follow-up question about deportation.

Nearly four-in-ten Trump supporters (37%) believe undocumented immigrants should not be permitted to stay in the country, and the vast majority of these (32% of Trump supporters overall) say there should be a national law enforcement effort to deport the immigrants now in the country illegally. By comparison, only 1% of Clinton backers overall say there should be a national deportation effort.

[![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/10/6_3.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2016/10/27/6-views-of-domestic-issues-race-immigration-health-care-abortion-supreme-court/6_3-4/)

Republicans are internally divided on the approach the country should take with undocumented immigrants. About as many Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who supported Trump in the primary say undocumented immigrants should not be allowed to stay in the country legally (48%) as say they should be allowed to stay if they meet certain requirements (49%). By contrast, a large majority (77%) of Republicans who supported one of the other candidates in the Republican primary support a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants currently in the country.

### Most voters say abortion should be legal in most cases

[![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2016/10/27135517/6_4.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2016/10/27/6-views-of-domestic-issues-race-immigration-health-care-abortion-supreme-court/6_4-4/)

Clinton and Trump supporters take opposing views on the issue of abortion. A wide 82%-majority of those who support Clinton believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases; only 16% say it should be illegal in all or most cases. More Trump supporters say abortion should be illegal (60%) than legal (36%), though views are somewhat less one-sided than among Clinton supporters.

[As in](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/04/08/on-abortion-persistent-divides-between-and-within-the-two-parties-2/) the past, there is no gender gap in views of abortion: Most men and (60%) and women (62%) think abortion should be legal in all or most cases. And there are no significant gender differences among supporters of the two candidates. Eight-in-ten or more Clinton supporters, regardless of gender, say abortion should be legal; about six-in-ten Trump backers of both genders say abortion should be illegal.

### Little change in views on the health care law

[![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/10/6_5.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2016/10/27/6-views-of-domestic-issues-race-immigration-health-care-abortion-supreme-court/6_5-4/)

More than six years after its passage, the Affordable Care Act remains a divisive issue for voters. Currently, more registered voters say they disapprove (53%) than approve (45%) of the 2010 health care law.

Clinton supporters overwhelmingly approve of the health care law (82% approve, 15% disapprove). When asked what, if anything, should be done with the law now, a large majority (69%) favors Congress taking steps to expand the law. Two-in-ten say Congress should leave the law as it is, while few (8%) say the law should be repealed.

Trump supporters, by contrast, are nearly unanimous in their opposition to the ACA: 94% disapprove of the health care law and nearly nine-in-ten (88%) say they want Congress to repeal the law.

For more on public attitudes on the health care law, and how they have changed over time, [see Pew Research Center’s Fact Tank blog](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2016/10/27/health-care-law-partisan-divide/).

### Views on the Supreme Court and ‘constitutional originalism’

When it comes to how the Supreme Court should interpret the Constitution, voters are divided: 48% say the Court should base its decisions on its understanding of what the Constitution “meant as it was originally written,” while about as many (47%) say decisions should be made on what the Constitution “means in current times.”

[![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/10/6_6.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2016/10/27/6-views-of-domestic-issues-race-immigration-health-care-abortion-supreme-court/6_6-2/)

Nearly three-quarters of Clinton supporters (74%) say the Supreme Court should base its rulings on an understanding of what the Constitution means in current times, while 22% say that justices should base their decisions on what the Constitution meant as it was originally written.

Most Trump backers (80%) believe that the Supreme Court should decide cases based on an originalist interpretation of the Constitution. Only 15% say the Court should base its decisions on an interpretation of what the Constitution means in current times.

### Opinions about increasing taxes on higher-income households

[![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/10/6_7.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2016/10/27/6-views-of-domestic-issues-race-immigration-health-care-abortion-supreme-court/6_7-2/)

On the issue of tax rates for higher-income earners, a plurality of voters (42%) believe that tax rates on household incomes over $250,000 should be increased. About a third (33%) say these rates should be kept the same as they are now and just 19% think tax rates on household income over $250,000 should be lowered.

About six-in-ten Clinton backers (59%) say tax rates on those who earn more than $250,000 should be increased, compared with 26% who say they should stay the same and 11% who think they should be lowered.

A greater share of Trump supporters (40%) say tax rates on household income over $250,000 should be kept the same as they are now than either support lowering (29%) or raising (24%) these rates.

### No shift in anger, frustration with the federal government

Voters’ feelings about the federal government are little changed over the last several years. Today, 21% of registered voters say they are angry with the federal government, while 57% say they are frustrated and 20% say they are basically content.

[![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/10/6_8.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2016/10/27/6-views-of-domestic-issues-race-immigration-health-care-abortion-supreme-court/6_8-2/)

Though few voters express contentment with the federal government, anger toward it is no higher among voters today than it has been since February 2014; and it remains lower than it was during the October 2013 (32%) federal government shutdown.

Feelings about government remain highly partisan, with GOP voters more likely than Democrats to express anger at government, and the divide is little changed in recent months.

[![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/10/6_9.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2016/10/27/6-views-of-domestic-issues-race-immigration-health-care-abortion-supreme-court/6_9/)

Similarly, feelings about government distinguish Clinton and Trump supporters. Overall, nearly four-in-ten Trump backers (38%) say they feel angry about the federal government, while 58% say it makes them feel frustrated and just 2% feel content about the federal government. Among Clinton supporters, just 6% express anger about government while 53% say they are frustrated, and nearly four-in-ten (38%) are content.

These divides are even more pronounced by strength of support for the two candidates: Fully 51% of Trump’s strong supporters say they are angry at government (compared with 22% of those who back him less strongly). Among Clinton supporters, those who back her strongly are more likely to say they are content with government (44%) than those who do not back her strongly (31%).

### Views of personal finances among Clinton and Trump supporters

[![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/10/6_10.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2016/10/27/6-views-of-domestic-issues-race-immigration-health-care-abortion-supreme-court/6_10/)

While Clinton and Trump supporters hold opposing views on a range of policies and issues, their assessments of the current state of their personal finances are almost identical. Among Clinton supporters, 55% say they are in either excellent or good shape financially, while 45% say they are in only fair or poor shape. Among those who support Trump, 52% describe their personal finances as excellent or good, compared with 47% who say their finances are only fair or poor.

###

###

### Personal financial outlook reflects political divide

While current financial assessments among Trump and Clinton supporters are very similar, there is a wide gap in expectations for personal finances over the next year, with those who support Trump much more pessimistic than those who support Clinton.

[![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/10/6_11.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2016/10/27/6-views-of-domestic-issues-race-immigration-health-care-abortion-supreme-court/6_11/)

Nearly three-quarters (73%) of Clinton supporters think their personal financial situation will improve a lot or some over the course of the next year, compared with just 10% who think their own situation will get a lot or a little worse (14% expect their finances to stay about the same).

By contrast, fewer than half of Trump supporters (45%) think their own finances will improve over the next year; 27% think they will get worse, and 15% expect them to stay about the same.

Attitudes among Trump supporters have become more negative over the past four months. In June, 61% of Trump supporters believed their situation would improve compared with 45% in the current survey. Clinton supporters are about as optimistic today that their personal financial situation will improve over the next year as they were in June (73%).

[![](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/10/6_12.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2016/10/27/6-views-of-domestic-issues-race-immigration-health-care-abortion-supreme-court/6_12/)

Clinton supporters are more optimistic than Trump supporters about their personal financial outlook across all levels of household income. For example, among those with family incomes of less than $30,000 a year, 69% of Clinton supporters expect their own finances to improve over the course of the next year, compared with just 47% of Trump supporters. Similarly, in households earning $75,000 a year or more, 76% of those who support Clinton – compared with 49% of those who support Trump – think their own financial situation will improve over the next year.

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**Next:** [7. Opinions on U.S. international involvement, free trade, ISIS and Syria, Russia and China](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2016/10/27/7-opinions-on-u-s-international-involvement-free-trade-isis-and-syria-russia-and-china.md)