Amnesty Advocates Skew Polls to Slam Popular ‘Hire American’ Policy

Opinions on halting immigration to U.S.
Spencer Platt / Getty
Neil Munro

Business and progressive groups are touting pro-amnesty push polls as President Donald Trump and his staff debate whether to adopt popular curbs on the inflow of immigrants and visa workers.

The so-called “push polls” are being used by Democrat leaders to bulk up apparent voter support for their $3 trillion spending bill. The bill would give work permits to many illegals and increase the inflow of migrants into a high-unemployment economy that has been stunned by China’s coronavirus.

But many careful polls show that the public’s priorities have decisively swung away from the establishment’s “Nation of Immigrants” claim, and towards President Donald Trump’s “Hire American’ policy.

For years, polls have shown the public wants to be seen liking and welcoming foreigners, as demanded by the 1960s claim that the United States is really a “Nation of Immigrants,” instead of a nation of and for Americans.

But those polls also show that voters simultaneously and strongly prefer that open jobs go to unemployed Americans before immigrants.

The priority shift towards Americans is shown in a March video of ten Ohio swing voters who universally backed Trump’s exclusion of travel from China.

When asked, several of the ten Ohio respondents politely hesitated before endorsing the self-protection measure.  A few explained their support for excluding travelers as protection for foreigners: “We don’t want to get them sick,” one person told Rich Thau, the organizer of Swing Voter Project.

But the video also showed the voters’ willingness to put Americans first. “We need to take care of our own,” said one respondent.

The new skewed polls were prepared by left-wing groups, including the Center for American Progress.

The CAP poll is being touted by industry groups such as FWD.us, an advocacy group created by wealthy West Coast investors, including Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg.

The CAP declined to release the poll details to Breitbart News, so hiding the respondents, the questions, and the terms that can drastically change Americans’ responses in a poll. For example, the poll pressures respondents to welcome illegal aliens into the labor market, housing, and welfare rolls by describing them as “immigrants,” and touting their role in the pushback against China’s coronavirus.

The CAP report suggests to legislators that the amnesty and migration-expansion proposals will not spark strong opposition among swing voters:

Previous polling conducted by DFP earlier in April 2020 suggested that voters largely support government action to provide more protections for essential workers. This round of polling elaborates on our prior findings and indicates broad support for renewing immigration benefits to immigrants employed in essential fields such as medicine, agriculture, and transportation–a narrowing of the traditional partisan divide on immigration when it comes to workers who play key roles during the crisis. Voters also support automatic extension of the DACA program and ensuring that the vital stimulus protections benefit all The Americans, regardless of immigration status.

The CAP poll is part of a larger effort by progressives and business groups to deny and suppress the public’s support for a reduction in wage-cutting migration.

FWD.us also commissioned a May 5 poll that described illegal aliens sympathetically as “dreamers.” The question asked:

Have you ever heard of DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, sometimes called ‘protections for Dreamers?’

Based on what you know or have heard, do you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose or strongly oppose the DACA program?

The survey got an extra five percent of respondents to support FWD’s position by saying:

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, is a federal immigration policy that allows immigrants who came to the United States as children and previously did not have legal status, to remain living and working in the U.S. legally, assuming they can pass a background check with the Department of Homeland Security. Based on this, do you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose or strongly oppose the DACA program?

These efforts complement pressure from the establishment media, plus a PR campaign featuring Christian and patriotic themes and former President George W. Bush, plus an intense lobbying campaign in the White House.

But many other polls show the recent shift in American priorities.

For example, a Washington Post poll showed that Hispanics are the strongest advocates for a near-total halt to legal immigration during the coronavirus epidemic and economic crash.

Sixty-nine percent of Hispanics said yes when they were asked, “Would you support … temporarily blocking nearly all immigration into the United States during the coronavirus outbreak?” Just 30 percent of Hispanics oppose the shutdown.

In contrast, 67 percent of whites backed the shutdown, partly because 45 percent of “liberals” opposed the policy.

The survey of 1,008 adults was taken from April 21-26 by the Washington Post and the University of Maryland, after President Donald Trump announced April 22 that he would trim immigration to help Americans gain jobs in the coronavirus recovery.

A shutdown is backed by 65 percent of all adults, 67 percent of independents, 83 percent of Republicans, 76 percent of conservatives, 64 percent of moderates, and by 63 percent of younger people aged 18 to 39.

Just 49 percent of Democrats opposed a shutdown, along with 46 percent of “Dem/lean Dem,” 23 percent of conservatives, and 37 percent of white college graduates.

An April 22-23 poll by Rasmussen Reports reported that 57 percent of 1,000 likely voters approve of President Donald Trump’s temporary halt to some forms of immigration. The policy question — “Do you favor or oppose a temporary halt to most immigration?” — was approved by 59 percent of younger people, 85 percent of Republicans, 34 percent of Democrats, and 43 percent of black Americans.

The “temporary halt” policy was also applauded by 62 percent of people who “somewhat disapprove” of Trump and by 23 percent of people who “strongly disapprove” of Trump.

The Rasmussen poll may have understated support for Trump’s April 22 immigration policy, partly because media-magnified criticism and political divisiveness causes some respondents to hide their opinions.  For example, 13 percent of all respondents said they were “not sure” about Trump’s policy.

But only two percent of Republicans picked the “not sure” option, while 18 percent of Democrats and 19 percent of “other” hid their views with “not sure” answers.

The Rasmussen poll matches prior surveys that show that Americans generously want to welcome migrants — but rationally want companies to hire Americans before importing workers.

These polls show that the public strongly objects to companies hiring foreign workers before American employees.

For example, an August 2017 poll by America First Policies reported that 68 percent of Americans oppose companies’ use of H-1B visa workers to outsource U.S.-based jobs that could be held by Americans.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.