Media outlets scoffed at Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker this week for his stated view that immigration policy should prioritize the needs of American workers, ignoring polls that consistently show otherwise to insist his position will alienate most voters.
“How much worse can Republicans make matters [with immigrants and hispanics]?” asked MSNBC. “The party’s 2016 candidates can do the one thing Romney didn’t: go after legal immigration.”
“We have remarked that the temptation in the GOP primary is to play to the loudest voices and the staunchest segment of the party, even though they do not represent a majority of voters in the party, let alone in the general electorate,” wrote Washington Post blogger Jennifer Rubin.
Walker said Monday immigration policy should center around the needs of American jobs and wages, calling their needs “a fundamentally lost issue” to politicians. (RELATED: Liberal Media CAN’T EVEN Over Walker’s Immigration Stance)
There are plenty of polls that show more Americans than not — across party and demographic lines — share his concern about legal immigration. Here are a few of them. (RELATED: Harvard Lawyer Destroys NYT Editorial On Legal Immigration)
1.
By a 5-to-1 margin, Americans who are dissatisfied with current immigration levels want less, not more immigration.
In a January, 2015, Gallup poll, 39 percent of Americans who are dissatisfied with current immigration levels said they want less immigration, rather than more, compared to 7 percent who said they want more immigration.
2.
Seventy-four percent of voters would be more likely to vote for a Republican candidate who puts the needs of American workers first.
In a September, 2014, Paragon Insights poll, 74 percent of likely voters said they would be more likely to vote for a Republican Senate candidate who said about immigration: “The American people are right to be concerned about jobs and wages, and elected officials should put the needs of American workers first.”
And 71 percent said they would be more likely to vote for a Republican candidate who said “Immigration policy needs to serve the interests of the nation as a whole, not a few billionaire CEOs and immigration activists lobbying for open borders.”
3.
By a nearly 3-to-1 margin, Americans think legal immigration should be reduced, not increased.
In an August, 2014, Reuters poll, 45 percent of Americans said the number of immigrants legally allowed to enter the country should be reduced. Just 17 percent said more legal immigrants should be allowed to come into the country.
4.
By a 10-1 margin, Americans think businesses should have to draw American workers by increasing wages and working conditions before hiring foreign workers.
In an August, 2014, Polling Company survey, 75 percent of Americans said businesses having trouble finding workers should raise wages and improve working conditions to attract Americans, instead of filling the jobs with foreign workers.
Broken down by party, that number is 79 percent of Democrats, 74 percent of Republicans and 74 percent of Independents. Broken down by race that number is 73 percent of whites, 86 percent of blacks, and 71 percent of Hispanics. And broken down by gender that number is 78 percent of women and 71 percent of men.
Just 8 percent of Americans said businesses should be allowed to hire more foreign workers.
5.
More than 41 percent of Americans say immigration levels should decrease.
In a June, 2014, Gallup poll, 41 percent of Americans said immigration levels should decrease, compared to 22 percent who said immigration levels should increase.
6.
More than 60 percent of Americans say there “should be restrictions” on the number of high-skilled foreign workers allowed in the U.S.
In a June, 2013, Princeton Survey Research Associates poll, 61 percent of Americans said the U.S. should not admit “as many high-skilled foreign workers as companies want to hire,” but should restrict that number.
7.
Nearly 60 percent of Hispanics said the U.S. should exercise more control over the people coming into the country than we do.
In a 2012 Pew Research Center poll, 69 percent of Americans, including 59 percent of Hispanics, said the U.S. should “restrict and control people coming into our country more than we do now.”
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