Only a minority of voters want immigrants here illegally to have a path to citizenship.
Most Republicans want immigrants deported.
I wrote today's post after reviewing a report published by the Pew Research Center on June 17. They sampled Americans on their opinions relating to immigrants. The Pew people have a good reputation for non-partisan fairness.
I came of age in the 1960s. The Civil Rights revolution was the great social triumph of my youth. I experienced it as American redemption. We had failed to live up to our ideals of liberty, justice, and equality for all, and then America changed itself. We overcame our past, with new laws and new social norms on the treatment of Native Americans, Blacks, Asians, and women. No more second class citizens. The Pew poll is a wake-up call to me.
A significant minority of my fellow Americans are comfortable with deporting immigrants who are here illegally. Republicans who want deportation of all immigrants are a majority of a political party which commands a majority of both chambers of Congress and the White House. They have electoral legitimacy. Trump has the power to do mass deportations. There is also a significant swing group of voters, people "in the middle," who want to deal with immigrants by keeping them as non-citizens. That may explain why Trump and Republican politicians advocate a change in birthright citizenship. It fits a larger idea. If adult immigrants are perceived as best kept as a non-citizen underclass, then their children can be as well. Immigrants from Latin America and Asia aren't really "us," and never can be, so let's not make them "us" by some unfortunate language in the 14th Amendment. It is the 21st century's version of the Dred Scott decision.
Trump is conspicuous in using presidential power to please his team, not the whole of the country. Let his team drink liberal tears; they love it. Some 59 percent of Republicans want undocumented immigrants deported. An additional 22 percent want to keep them here, but as a permanent non-citizen workforce. That totals some 80%.
Only 36 percent of Americans want what Democrats speak of as their goal for immigration peace, a "path to citizenship." Democrats mis-read Hispanic voters on this issue. A significant number of Hispanics share the Republican position; 14 percent of Hispanics want deportation, and another 36 percent want permanent non-citizenship.
The chart below records growing public disappointment with Democratic policy on immigration between 2017 and the present.
Trump succeeded in shaping the public worry about mass immigration from countries other than Western Europe. He described immigrants as replacing us. They are changing our blood, changing our language and culture. They are parasites. His attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion lays bare the racial/ethnic component. He positioned this as White people under seige. Assert their centrality as the people who own and control the country, while they still have the numbers to do so, a majority that is slipping away. If there is work to be done, let it be done by the people already here, or by hired hands on contract, not by people who invite themselves in as partners..
The Pew poll gives us a sense of the country's mood. I am probably an outlier, more pro-immigration than are most Americans. As always, there is lots to dislike about Trump, but he isn't out of touch on this issue, not with his Republican base.
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7 comments:
Wrong. The people who don't support a path to citizenship don't want to reward illegal immigration. The problem with your analysis is that some people support legal immigration but not illegal immigration. As a frequent consumer of Faux News and other right-wing and far right media, it seems odd that you are "surprised" and don't understand this issue.
There may be a difference in attitude toward immigrants from "Latin America" versus immigrants from Asia, particularly China.
Like the USA, Latin America was conquered and colonized by Europeans. They speak European languages. Most of the people are Christian and many are Catholic. They are part of the Western hemisphere. Mexico and Central America are part of North America. For the most part, these countries are not our enemies, including the countries in South America.
China, on the other hand, is a non-Western, non-Christian, Communist country. China is an important trading partner but is also considered a major threat and an enemy. There are major cultural differences between the East and the West.
"Asian hate" is not just about legal versus illegal immigration.
Our immigration system is a complicated mess, creating a bureaucratic labyrinth that encourages rule-breaking. Corporations rely on a labor force that is too frightened to report violations of labor laws and criminal conduct, benefiting employers.
Welcome to “the land of the free,” where our imperial president has declared D.E.I. illegal and where masked thugs abduct people from the streets or their workplaces and send them to hellholes in San Salvador, Sudan, or “Alligator Alcatraz.” Ironically, the very people who most rabidly attack Critical Race theory are the ones who support this madness and prove it true.
The Jim Crow comparison on immigration is inapt. Africans came to America against their will, in chains. Illegal immigrants are here voluntarily, and as scofflaws.
The most prominent Hispanic—and Hispanic activist—in American history, Cesar Chavez, staunchly opposed illegal immigration as harmful to America and Americans.
A path to legality, even citizenship, should be considered. That doesn’t make them victims. Even most asylum-seekers are fakes, or should have applied one nation over.
If the progressive argument is Bad America Owes Open Immigration, or Let’s Correct Geopolitical Income and Resource Inequality, just say so. AOC and Mamdani, anyone?
Don't forget, that due to the lack of checking and enforcement of the law, those illegal immigrants cost taxpayers money.
There are carrying estimates, but bottom line, they cost.
Legally, they cannot work. Unlikely that they pay taxes.
Most pay taxes. They don't get the benefit those taxes pay for. They don't get Medicaid except emergency care. The children of people here illegally are eligible to go to school, though.
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