The House shot down a moderate immigration bill June 27 that conservative activists warned included amnesty, perhaps to the relief of the majority of Americans. Jenny Beth Martin, chairman of Tea Party Patriots Citizens Fund, reported in The Hill on a new John McLaughlin survey confirming that voters clearly do not support amnesty.
Out of the 1,000 likely voters polled, 42 percent of likely voters and 61 percent of Republican voters “said they would be less likely to vote to reelect a Republican member of Congress who voted to provide amnesty for a group of illegal immigrants.” Even among Democrats, just “30 percent said they’d be more likely to elect a Republican lawmaker who voted for amnesty, while 28 percent said they’d be less likely.” The poll also found that voters especially disapprove of granting amnesty to illegal immigrants who “jump the line.” A strong 75 percent say that this would be an unfair policy, and among Republicans, disapproval jumps to 87 percent.
More telling is the fact that voters distrust the government “by a wide margin of 50 percent to 33 percent” to “secure the border and end illegal immigration in exchange for amnesty for a group of illegal immigrants.” The distrust among Trump voters is even worse at 48 percent. As for the “Dreamers,” only 22 percent of voters say they support a pathway to citizenship. Voters feel so strictly about the issue, 38 percent say there should be “no reward at all” for those currently in the shadows and that number jumps to 60 percent for Trump voters.
With this data in mind, it is obvious to see how the Democrats’ attempt to make the “cruelty” of the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policy the issue of the midterms fell flat. It also shows that Republicans were smart to continue immigration talks before ramming through an amnesty bill.