Illegal immigration, even more than men in women’s sports, is the hill that Democrats are determined to die on. They think the issue is a winner for them. In my own state, Minnesota, public officials openly encouraged citizens to interfere with federal law enforcement–such is the Democrats’ commitment to keeping illegal aliens in the U.S.
But polling indicates that most Americans are on the Republican side of the issue. Most recently, check out this Harvard/Harris poll. It is full of interesting findings, which are generally good for the GOP. But I want to focus solely on the illegal immigration issue.
The main objective of ICE and the Trump administration is apprehending and deporting illegals who have a criminal record. This initiative is wildly popular. By 75% to 25%, respondents in the Harvard/Harris poll support “deporting immigrants who are here illegally and have committed crimes.” Even 68% of Democrats support the Trump administration on this policy:
Perhaps more surprising is that a solid majority–57% to 43%–favor deporting all illegal aliens:
American Experiment’s pollster asked the same questions in Minnesota. You would expect the results to be less favorable to immigration enforcement, given that Minnesota is more liberal than most states, and we have just gone through a couple of months of hysterical anti-enforcement propaganda by our government officials and local media. Given that context, it is remarkable that in Minnesota, an even more overwhelming majority–81%–favor deporting all illegal aliens with a criminal record, while the state splits evenly–48% to 49%–on deporting all illegal aliens, period.
These numbers indicate that Republicans should not fear the immigration issue, but rather should emphasize 1) deporting illegal aliens who have committed crimes above and beyond the crime of illegal entry, 2) the need for local law enforcement to cooperate with federal law enforcement, and 3) the importance of ensuring that illegal aliens don’t vote. All of these issues enjoy overwhelming public support. And in most jurisdictions, “send them all home” is also a winning message.
Of course, the Harvard/Harris poll also shows ICE’s approval rating somewhat under water. This is no surprise: sadly, if you mount incessant attacks, you can drive down the approval rating of any person or organization. We see this, too, with President Trump, whose personal approval rating consistently lags behind the broad public support that his policies enjoy. So Democrats around the country will follow the playbook we have seen in Minnesota, and focus their attacks on ICE rather than the actual policies relating to illegal immigration. But that should not be a winning strategy when the public overwhelmingly supports Republican policies on their merits.
