Twitter did a collective double-take yesterday, when accounts connected to the Obama and Bush administrations tweeted at each other in an online shout-out to their respective Youtube videos making the economic case for immigration reform:
These are administrations who don’t have too many policy positions in common, whose relationship might be characterized as cool at best. But on immigration, they agree that reform with a path to citizenship must pass (Bush has said that failing to pass legislation as President was one of his greatest regrets). And that’s a sentiment they share with the vast majority of the American population. In fact, with the exception of Steve King, his hardliner cohorts in the House, and a minority of Tea Partiers, pretty much everyone supports immigration.
Who are we talking about?
- Americans.
- 88% of all Americans support immigration reform with a path to citizenship.
- So do 70% of Republican primary voters, including those who support the Tea Party and those who watch Fox News daily.
- An average of 65% of voters in seven key congressional swing districts, and an average of 68% of likely voters in 29 states support immigration with citizenship.
- 81% of Latino voters want immigration reform that combines border security with a path to citizenship (versus security before citizenship). 66% of African-American voters support immigration reform with citizenship, as do 65% of Asian-American voters.
- President Obama and every other sitting president since at least the days of Ronald Reagan
- Future presidential prospects: Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, Hilary Clinton, Joe Biden, and the entire Democratic bench
- 68 of 100 U.S. Senators, including every single Democrat and 14 Republicans. 81% of Americans live in a state where at least one Senator voted for the Gang of 8 immigration bill.
- At least 200 House Democrats
- An unknown number of Republicans in the House: those who will vote for immigration reform, and those who may vote no but still hope that reform passes.
- Republican officials and former office holders: former President George Bush, Karl Rove, Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell
- Every single DHS Secretary, ever, from Tom Ridge to Michael Chertoff to Janet Napolitano
- Conservative economists: Doug Holtz-Eakin, Grover Norquist, 100 other economists; Libertarian economists like the CATO Institute. Not to mention the Congressional Budget Office
- Conservative commentators and liberal commentators
- Business interests: Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers
- Labor interests: SEIU, AFL-CIO, LiUNA, AFSCME, United Farm Workers of America, UFCW, Change to Win
- Farmers and the agricultural sector
- Tech companies and high-skilled employers (also Laurene Powell Jobs)
- The faith community: pastors across America, the Evangelical Immigration Table, the Nuns on the Bus, the Pope
- Civil rights leaders: Congressional Black Caucus, NAACP, Leadership Conference for Civil and Human Rights
- Progressive organizers including CREDO, Daily Kos, MoveOn
- Women and children’s groups
- Law enforcement officials
- State and city leaders
- Ethnic media
- Teachers, educators, and leaders in higher education
- SF Giants pitcher Sergio Romo; actresses Rosario Dawson, America Ferrera, Eva Longoria; Leonard Nimoy, also known as Spock