Meanwhile, Stephen Miller and Foxlandia find themselves in a shrinking cul-de-sac of hardcore haters
New polling finds that the American people, from across the political spectrum, overwhelmingly support efforts to evacuate and resettle our Afghan allies in the U.S.
- Fresh polling from CBS News finds that Americans support helping “Afghan translators enter the U.S.” by a 81-19% margin – with support from 90% of Democrats, 79% of Independents, and 76% of Republicans.
The broad bipartisan support for resettling Afghan allies is part of a broader public opinion trend in favor of immigrants and immigration, which grew stronger during the past four years:
- Gallup polling released in July finds that Americans believe that immigration is a good thing rather than a bad thing by a 75-21% margin. Gallup has been asking this question since 1965 and these results are near the record-high set last year (see here for more).
- Meanwhile, in poll after poll, 70-plus percent of Americans support citizenship for Dreamers, TPS holders, farm workers, and essential workers – including the majority of Republicans (see here for a deep-dive).
While the broad American public favors a more welcoming America, the nativist wing of the GOP and their right wing media allies are up to their same old fear mongering. From Tucker Carlson to Laura Ingraham to, of course, Stephen Miller (“Resettling in America is not about solving a humanitarian crisis it’s about accomplishing an ideological objective to change America”), the usual suspects are stoking fear and hatred that is as ugly as it is predictable.
According to Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
A deep and broad majority of Americans support resettling our Afghan allies, see immigration as a good thing, and want Congress to formally recognize undocumented immigrants as the Americans they already are. Meanwhile, the ultranationalist right in America is working overtime to scare the American people into opposition on all three fronts.
It isn’t working.
Stephen Miller, Fox News commentators and the hardcore anti-immigrant hate groups are being exposed. The Trumpian wing of the GOP is loud but not large. Their political efficacy is wildly overrated. They supported Trump’s nationalization of the 2018 midterms on hyped fears of “caravans and criminals” and suffered the largest midterm defeat in American history. They thought Trump was brilliant to run on xenophobia in 2020 only to see him lose to the pro-immigrant candidate by 7 million votes. During Trump’s war on immigrants and refugees, Republicans lost the House, the Senate and the White House.
So, sure, Stephen Miller and Fox News speak to and for one-in-five Americans. But their racism and xenophobia backfires with the multiracial, multiethnic, multigenerational coalition that wants America to live up to its self-description as a welcoming nation. That’s why nativism has lost its edge as a wedge issue, and why Democrats are smart to lean in, forge solutions, and make progress towards fixing our dysfunctional immigration system.
