Will Senators side with American people or enable radical and unpopular policies on ramped up deportations, dramatic cuts in legal immigration and an unpopular, wasteful border wall?
As the Senate kicks off immigration week, February 6, 2018 polling from Quinnipiac offers a reminder that the American public overwhelming supports Dreamers and strongly opposes key elements of the White House immigration framework.
Among the key findings in the new Quinnipiac Poll:
- By an 81-14% margin, Americans want Dreamers to gain citizenship: Support is overwhelmingly pro-Dreamer when respondents were asked if they support, “allowing undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children to remain in the United States and eventually apply for citizenship.”
- Support for Dreamers is overwhelming across party lines – 94% of Democrats, 82% of Independents, and 68% of Republicans support citizenship: GOP voters support citizenship by a 68-24% margin, white men by a 75-20% margin, and voters over 65 by a 80-14% margin.
- By approximately a 2:1 margin, the American public opposes a border wall – especially if Trump’s $25 billion price tag is attached: When first asked if they support or oppose a border wall with Mexico, the public opposes the wall by a 59-37% margin. A follow-up question, which includes reference to the $25 billion price tag that President Trump has requested to build such a wall, generates even stronger opposition – by a 65-33% margin.
- As President Trump and allies seek to slash legal immigration levels, 78% of Americans are opposed: A majority of Americans (54%) support keeping legal immigration levels the same as current, while more Americans (24%) support increasing legal immigration rather than decreasing (17%). Even 71% of Republican voters want legal immigration levels to either stay the same (53%) or increase (18%). Additional poll questions found support for maintaining the current policy regarding family reunification/chain migration (49-43% support current approach that supports sponsorship for all immediate family members) and the diversity visa lottery (48-39% support).
- The public overwhelmingly rejects the idea that undocumented immigrants take jobs from Americans or are prone to commit more crimes than Americans. Despite the transparent and relentless scapegoating efforts from this administration, Americans do not believe undocumented immigrants take jobs away from American citizens (63-33% reject this idea) and do not believe that undocumented immigrants commit more crimes than American citizens (72-17% reject this idea).
According to Frank Sharry, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
It is not even close: once again public opinion comes down overwhelmingly in support of Dreamers and a path to citizenship and by overwhelming margins opposes Donald Trump’s far-reaching anti-immigrant plan. Americans want Congress to stop making simple issues difficult: pass a narrow bill that helps Dreamers today, adds reasonable and effective border security measures, and doesn’t complicate this urgent task with issues better left for another day.
