Most Americans Still Favor Pro-Immigration Policies - Horowitz

Most Americans Still Favor Pro-Immigration Policies - Horowitz

The United States is a nation whose economy and culture throughout its history has been renewed and made more vibrant by waves of immigration. The best of our leaders have recognized this unique American strength: that we are a nation founded on an idea—not on blood and soil; a magnet for those around the world attracted to freedom and opportunity who come to our shores seeking a better life.

John F. Kennedy proclaimed, “Everywhere immigrants have enriched and strengthened the fabric of American life.” Ronald Reagan echoed this enduring American strong point in his farewell address: "And (America) she's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home.”

This positive view of immigration is still shared by the majority of Americans. While President Trump did succeed in making anti-immigration policies more appealing and salient to Republicans, a substantial majority of voters overall remain unpersuaded by the former president and his political and media allies’ efforts to demonize immigrants, restrict legal immigration and convince people to adopt his destructive, narrow and racially tinged definition of our nation. These are among the findings of a recently released national survey conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI).

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More specifically, “a majority of Americans (56%) say that in general, newcomers strengthen American society, compared to four in ten (40%) who say that newcomers threaten traditional American customs and values,” reports PRRI. This is a slight uptick from 10 years ago when 53% of Americans said “newcomers strengthen American society, while 42% said, “they threaten traditional American customs and values.”.

While Democrats (78%)  and Independents (60%) have more positive views of immigrants now than 10 years ago, Republicans have become more negative in their perceptions.  Only 28% of Republicans now believe that immigrants strengthen American society, as opposed to 71% who believe they threaten American values. Among Republicans who most trust Fox News, 80% say immigrants threaten American values. Ten years ago, 39% of Republicans expressed a positive view, while 55% said that immigrants threatened American values.

Similarly, substantial majority support remains for pro-immigration policies. More than 6-in-10  Americans, for example, say that “immigrants living in the U.S. illegally should be allowed a way to become citizens provided they meet certain requirements.”  This support has stayed relatively constant over the last 8 years or so, according to PRRI. Today, “only about one in five Americans (22%) say immigrants living in the U.S. illegally should be identified and deported.” 

Along the same lines, nearly 2-in 3 of Americans, favor granting “Dreamers”--people who were brought to this country illegally as children-- permanent legal resident status, as opposed to about 1-in-3 who are against making them legal residents

Expanding legal immigration is more essential today than ever as the aging of the baby boomers and our record low birthrates are contributing to the labor shortages that can curb economic growth and spike inflation.  Additionally, as business formation has lagged over the past several years, immigrants are a well-documented source of new entrepreneurs. A study by the Center for American Entrepreneurship reports that more than 4-in-10 of American Fortune 500 companies were founded or co-founded by immigrants or the children of immigrants. The study also found that the parts of the nation that attract more immigrants do better economically.

Given the strong anti-immigrant sentiments of the core base of today’s Republican party, comprehensive immigration reform, even if it includes strong border security provisions with robust funding for implementation, is unlikely to gain traction in Congress.  But the strong and steady majority support in the nation as a whole for pro-immigration policies does give the Biden Administration a path to continue to make incremental progress, building on the executive actions it has already taken to reverse ill-advised Trump policies that limited legal immigration and closed the door on all but a token number of refugees.

The Biden Administration must continue to boost the number of green cards and various visas that are available annually and increase the number of refugees we accept.  It should also seek opportunities to adopt more limited legislative compromises. One possibility is to combine permanent legal residency for Dreamers with stepped-up funding for border security.

In an increasingly competitive world, where a number of other countries best us in K-12 school performance, our ability to continue to attract immigrants is our competitive edge.  The good news is most Americans still recognize this reality.  They know that our nation is improved by people coming here to seek a better life for their children, succeeding in doing so, and enriching us all at the same time.  

They stand with Kennedy and Reagan—not Trump.

 

Rob Horowitz is a strategic and communications consultant who provides general consulting, public relations, direct mail services and polling for national and state issue organizations, various non-profits, businesses, and elected officials and candidates. He is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island