Politics

Obama’s Amnesty Support Tumbles 14 Points Since 2012

Neil Munro White House Correspondent
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Strong support for President Barack Obama’s immigration policy has plunged to only 10 percent among likely voters, following his decision to temporarily delay his promise to provide work permits for millions of illegal immigrants.

The new low is revealed in a poll by Politico, which also showed that the public’s strong opposition has risen to 44 percent. The publication’s article about the poll did not describe the steep plunge in strong support, which could create a huge opportunity for the GOP’s presidential candidates if he enacts his much-touted executive amnesty after the election.

That poll of 917 likely voters was taken in the 17 states and more than 60 districts with competitive races this November.

It shows a 60 percent drop in strong support since December 2012. Two years ago, Obama had 24 percent strong support among likely voters, according to a national poll conducted in December 2012 by George Washington University’s Battleground pollsters.

The Politico and Battleground polls also show a 24-point swing in strongly held public opinion since 2012 when Obama had 24 percent strong support and faced only 34 percent strong opposition on his immigration policies, according to the Battleground poll.

It is also a sharp drop since August, when Obama had 17 percent strong approval and faced 46 percent strong disapproval, according to an August 2014 Battleground poll.

The sudden loss in strong support is likely because of his September decision to backtrack on a June promise to award millions of work permits to illegals prior to the election. Obama backtracked to help Democratic senators avoid defeat in November, but the move was passionately protested by Latino ethnic advocates.

When he announced his reversal, Obama said he wanted a public debate on immigration policies to build support for his planned executive amnesty, which is unpopular, even among core Democratic groups.

Politico’s new poll suggests that a continued public debate is unlikely to reverse the tide of public opinion against additional immigration.

Since 2012, the public’s opposition to Obama’s immigration-expanding policies has grown amid a massive pro-immigration lobbying and P.R. effort. The campaign is support by the established media and Democratic legislators, and is funded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the high-tech sector and several billionaires.

In its new poll, Politico reported that Obama’s policies are support by 36 percent and opposed by 64 percent among likely voters. Those numbers include the strongly-held opinions and the less influential “somewhat approval” or somewhat disapprove” numbers.

Obama’s overall support on immigration now stands 25 points below his overall December 2012 support, when the public split 45 percent approve, 48 percent disapprove, according to the December 2012 Battleground poll.

Since 2007, the business-backed campaign for increased immigration has spent at least $1.5 billion trying to shift public opinion.

In June 2013, the coalition persuaded the Democratic-dominated Senate to pass an immigration bill that established weakened enforcement, established an amnesty for illegals, and roughly doubled the annual inflow of new legal immigrants and guest workers up to nearly four million per year.

The planned inflow was large. Roughly 4.3 million Americans turn 18 each year and begin looking for jobs in an economy where median wages have fallen back to the 2000 year level since 2008.

However, the GOP leadership in the House blocked the bill, despite intense pressure from the coalition of progressives and business executives.

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