Nearly a third of US voters expect civil war within 5 years

About a third of US voters believe another civil war might be fought in the United States within a few years due to political violence and immigration issues, a new survey shows.

The poll by Rasmussen Reports found 31 percent of those surveyed believe it's “likely” that the United States will experience a second civil war sometime in the next five years, with 11 percent saying it’s “very likely.”

Some 28 percent of white respondents, 44 percent of African-Americans and 36 percent of other minorities were among those who expressed concern for civil war.

The poll also found that 59 percent of US voters are concerned opponents of President Donald Trump's policies would resort to violence.

Some 53 percent said they are worried violence will occur from critics of Trump's news media coverage. About half of those surveyed blame Trump for his bad relationship with the news media.

Voters are also more distrustful of the political news they are getting than they have been in years.   

Since Trump’s election in November 2016, a majority of voters, 55 percent, believes America has become a more divided nation.

The poll comes as the Trump administration faces harsh backlash over its "zero tolerance" immigration policy that began in early May.

 The policy has led to the separation of more than 2,000 children from their parents who stand accused of entering the United States illegally.

Trump signed an executive order last week that aimed to end family separations while maintaining his strict policy of criminally prosecuting undocumented immigrants crossing the US-Mexico border.

The family separations sparked widespread condemnation in the United States and abroad, including from within Trump’s own Republican Party.

Although Trump issued an executive order on June 20 to end the family separations, it contained “loopholes” and did little to fix the problem, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).