{"id":14046,"date":"2017-04-27T17:55:51","date_gmt":"2017-04-27T21:55:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/live-immigrationreform.pantheonsite.io\/?p=14046"},"modified":"2018-12-28T12:51:39","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T17:51:39","slug":"dont-fall-for-the-mainstream-medias-polling-on-immigration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2017\/04\/27\/dont-fall-for-the-mainstream-medias-polling-on-immigration\/","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Fall For the Mainstream Media\u2019s \u201cPolling\u201d on Immigration"},"content":{"rendered":"

This past week, an ABC News\/Washington Post survey revealed<\/a> that, if the election took place again today, Donald Trump would still win, and possibly by a wider margin. Many in the mainstream media, including ABC News\u2019<\/em> George Stephanopoulos, expressed disbelief<\/a> by these results. But it shouldn\u2019t take them by surprise. If members of the media are truly surprised, it\u2019s because they are deceived by the biased language of many polls.<\/p>\n

Polling on immigration exemplifies an inherent bias that produces skewed results. Over the past few weeks, media outlets have touted the idea that Trump\u2019s immigration policies counter the will of the people because \u201csupport for immigration is at an all-time high.\u201d The Wall Street Journal <\/em>went so far as to conclude that their latest poll<\/a> on immigration \u201csuggests backlash to Trump administration policies.\u201d A number of other news agencies are also quick to note that their polls apparently signal opposition to Trump\u2019s policies.<\/p>\n

However, if you take time to investigate the wording of these polls, a different picture becomes obvious. The same Wall Street Journal<\/em> poll, which reports that 60 percent of likely voters support immigration, is tailor-made for a pro-immigration response. The wording specifically required that respondents decide if immigration as a whole<\/em> \u201cgenerally helps\u201d or \u201cgenerally hurts\u201d the nation. As could be predicted, the survey harvested a generally positive view on immigration. Similarly, when Gallup asked voters<\/a> \u201con the whole, do you think immigration is a good or bad thing for this country?\u201d during this past election cycle, a whopping 72 percent cited immigration as a good thing.<\/p>\n

Wording poll questions like this leaves likely voters without the ability to expound on their opinions of the American immigration system. If they want to voice displeasure with the current system, they are required to condemn immigration as a whole, which is unfair and illogical.<\/p>\n

Surveys \u2013 mainly non-mainstream media polls \u2013 that are willing to ask specific questions related to immigration, paint a different picture. While many news organizations reported on the Gallup poll question signaling support for immigration as an overall practice, most ignored a more specific question in the same poll that revealed a vast majority of voters (76 percent) want to reduce immigration levels or leave them the same. In addition, a recent Rasmussen poll<\/a> that shows only 15 percent of voters oppose Trump\u2019s recent Executive Order that includes reforming the H-1B worker program.<\/p>\n

Very few Americans believe that immigration, as a practice, is evil and\/or entirely without benefit. Neither does President Trump. What Americans do oppose, however, is a broken and out of control immigration system that favors those who violate or abuse the law. Honest surveys show this. However, even if the mainstream media avoids reporting on them, the American people still back President Trump\u2019s efforts to enact meaningful immigration reform that serves the best interests of American citizens.