By Allan Wall, October 15, 2020
The presidential election is scheduled for November 3rd, with millions having already cast their ballots in early voting, and polls show Democrat challenger Joe Biden leading incumbent Republican Donald Trump. But much could occur between now and the election.
Here at US Incorporated, we can’t endorse candidates, but we can examine the issues, especially relating to immigration.
Gallup, Inc. released the results of a poll on immigration on July 1st. The title of the Gallup article was Americans Want More, Not Less, Immigration for First Time (Mohamed Younis, Gallup, July 1, 2020).
The article begins with this statement: “Thirty-four percent of Americans, up from 27% a year ago, would prefer to see immigration to the U.S. increased. This is the highest support for expanding immigration Gallup has found in its trend since 1965.”
The year 1965 is significant. That’s the year of the passage of Hart-Celler, the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which kicked off our current wave of mass immigration.
The article also notes that “… the percentage favoring decreased immigration has fallen to a new low of 28%, while 36% think it should stay at the present level. This marks the first time in Gallup’s trend that the percentage wanting increased immigration has exceeded the percentage who want decreased immigration.”
That’s interesting, but if you add up the total of those wanting immigration decreased (28%) and those who want it to remain at the same level (36%), it adds up to a majority of 64% who don’t want it increased, as opposed to a minority of 34% who want it increased.
Consider that the Biden-Harris team stands for an increase in immigration. (See Contra the National Interest: Biden-Harris Immigration Platform.)
USA TODAY published an article titled, Poll shows growing disconnect over Trump’s hard-line immigration policies (Alan Gomez, USA TODAY, Aug. 12, 2020, updated Sep. 15, 2020).
It reports the results of a May survey about immigration in which 62% of respondents agreed with Trump’s “temporary restrictions on legal immigration during the coronavirus pandemic.” In fact, only 15% of respondents totally opposed these restrictions.
The “disconnect” mentioned in the USA TODAY title refers to the poll’s majority support among Republicans for DACA and asylum.
Meanwhile, an NPR/Ipsos poll conducted July 30th and 31st dealt with COVID-19 policy.
In that poll, 65% of respondents “believe our country is handling the pandemic worse than other countries.”
As far as the intersection of coronavirus and immigration policy, 60% of respondents “want the government to prevent legal immigrants from bringing their family here” and 58% favored banning “the entry of both foreign guest workers and asylum seekers.”
As far as the partisan breakdown of the polling, the former policy was supported by 73% of Republicans and 47% of Democrats, with the latter policy supported by 75% of Republicans and 48% of Democrats.
In the same poll, 78% supported closing the border to non-essential travel, which 83% of Republicans and even 75% of Democrats supported. (Most Americans support single, national strategy to combat COVID-19 by Mallory Newall, Ipsos, August 3, 2020.)
The same Ipsos poll asked respondents this $64,000 question: “When thinking about which presidential candidate to support in November, how big a factor in your decision are each of the following?”
Here were the results:
#1: “Each candidate’s plan for economic recovery” – 66%
#2: “Each candidate’s plan to help the nation recover from coronavirus” – 60%
#3: “Each candidate’s plan to unite the country” – 56%
#4: “Each candidate’s stance on racial issues” – 50%
#5: “Each candidate’s stance on funding for law enforcement” – 47%
#6: “Each candidate’s stance on immigration” – 42%
#7: “The candidate’s political party” – 33%
#8: “Whether the candidate wears a face mask in public” – 30%.
So immigration comes in at number six. That’s not surprising considering the incessant media attention given to the top five issues.
If you think about it, all the top five issues are related to immigration. A candidate could make the case for immigration restriction based on how it would aid economic recovery, coronavirus recovery, and national unity. That would be a good strategy.
Not that we’re endorsing candidates; just analyzing the issues!
Visit Allan’s web site.
