POLL: More than Half of Working-Class Believes Illegal Aliens Take American Jobs

Don Bockmon, of Vancouver, wears his for rent t-shirt as other job seekers stand line duri
AP File Photo: Rick Bowmer

More than half of the American working-class and those living below the poverty line say illegal immigrants take jobs away from U.S. workers, according to a new poll.

In the latest Rasmussen Reports poll on immigration, about 51 percent of Americans earning less than $30,000 a year said illegal immigrants do, in fact, crowd out American workers for jobs.

Middle-class likely voters were split equally on the issue. Forty-five percent agreeing that illegal immigrants take U.S. jobs from American workers while the same percentage say they do not take away jobs.

The poll revealed the struggle between the working-class and upper-class on the issue of illegal immigration. For instance, those earning between $100,000 and $200,000 a year were less likely to say illegal immigrants take jobs away from American workers.

Meanwhile, the wealthiest of Americans, those earning more than $200,000 a year, were the least likely to say illegal immigrants take U.S. jobs. Only 34 percent say American workers lose out on jobs taken by the illegal population.

Every year, the U.S. admits more than 1.5 million legal immigrants a year, not including the thousands of foreign workers those who enter the country to take low-skilled seasonal jobs in farming and non-farming industries.

For decades, Attorney General Jeff Sessions argued that massive low-skilled immigration to the U.S. has forced the American working-class into unemployment and undercut blue-collar wages.

In a recent study, as Breitbart News reported, states that enforced E-Verify – the program that weeds out illegal immigrants for job openings – have enjoyed less unemployment as Americans no longer have to compete with the illegal immigrant population for work.

Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR) and David Perdue (R-GA) have also put forth a plan, endorsed by President Trump, to cut legal immigration in half by ending family chain migration and enacting a merit-based system that only admits immigrants who meet specific requirements.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.

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