While cheap foreign labor-loving special interest groups and politicians like to pretend otherwise, a new poll demonstrates strong support for immigration policies that put American workers first.
Rasmussen’s most recent “Immigration Index,” released Tuesday, was taken in the midst of the Coronavirus crisis. The poll features a series of questions designed to measure public opinion on immigration policy.
Not surprisingly, the survey found that an overwhelming majority of Americans (67 percent) support requiring all employers to use E-Verify. E-Verify consistently receives a warm reception from the American public, as demonstrated by polling conducted last year on behalf of the Federation For American Immigration Reform (FAIR) in seven swing states. As for ending deportations, it’s not nearly as unpopular as the mainstream media suggests. A plurality of Americans (48 percent) oppose giving all illegal aliens lifetime work permits.
As the Coronavirus pandemic is leaving millions of Americans unemployed, some businesses and government officials still think that America desperately needs more foreign workers. The Rasmussen Immigration Index shows that the American people profoundly disagree. 63 percent of respondents think businesses should raise pay and try harder to recruit Americans over foreign workers. In addition, 57 percent of likely voters do not want Congress to import more high-skilled foreign workers because “the country already has enough talented people to train and recruit for most of those jobs.”
In 2018, nearly 1.1 million immigrants gained legal permanent residency in the United States. According to Rasmussen, 47 percent of Americans would like to see fewer than 750,000 admitted to the United States every year. With immigration expected to account for 95 percent of U.S. population growth by 2060, a plurality of those surveyed (44 percent) want immigration-driven population growth reduced.
These findings confirm the mandate that voters gave the federal government to enact “America First” immigration policies. And especially in trying times like these, when millions of Americans suddenly find themselves without work, common-sense immigration policies will go a long way in giving American workers much needed relief.
