Most Republicans And Democrats Agree: Immigrants Make The Us A Better Place To Live
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In California, a majority of Democratic and Republican voters have found something to agree on: Immigrants make the United States a better place to live.
More than 80% of registered voters in the state concur with that opinion, according to the latest UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll conducted for the Los Angeles Times. About 92% of Democrats and 60% of Republicans are in agreement.
Lots and lots of people here are transplants or descendants of immigrants, said Cristina Mora, co-director of the Institute of Governmental Studies. The idea of an immigrant in California is different. Here, we understand immigrants as part of Silicon Valley, as students, as entrepreneurs — as part of a wide and varied landscape.
The state has long been at odds with the Trump administration over immigration issues, as the president continues to push for a new wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and cracks down on asylum seekers.
California legislators have continued the states expansion of rights and protections for immigrants who enter the country illegally, passing laws signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom allowing immigrants to serve on government boards and commissions and banning arrests for immigration violations in courthouses across the state. Newsom also signed a bill Friday that bans private prisons and immigrant detention facilities from operating in California.
Its not just Latinos, Hinojosa-Ojeda said.
Money Behind ‘zero Tolerance’
Trump’s “zero-tolerance” approach to illegal immigration has been a boon for private prisons and security companies.
Since 2017, CoreCivic, formerly Corrections Corporation of America, has received $225 million in funding from Immigration and Customs Enforcement to manage immigrant detention facilities, according to USASpending.gov. A subsidiary of the CoreCivic donated $250,000 toward Trump’s inaugural festivities last year.
Another $250,000 Trump inaugural donor GEO Group is the country’s largest for-profit prison operator and a multimillion-dollar beneficiary of the administration’s aggressive immigration policy.
The Florida-based company and its subsidiaries, which also gave $225,000 to a pro-Trump super PAC during the 2016 presidential election, have been paid $560 million since 2015 for contracts they hold with ICE.
GEO Group and its subsidiaries oversee a number of ICE detention facilities and have aggressively lobbied to secure contracts and influence the nation’s immigration policy. In 2017, the company spent $1.7 million on lobbying, the highest amount on record for a private prison contractor.
Aside from lobbying, the company has a prolific political action committee and a number of big-donor employees. So far in 2018, the company’s PAC and employees have contributed $731,000 to candidates. The top three recipients are Texas House members Republicans John Culberson and John Carter and Democrat Henry Cuellar.
Opinion: What Americans Really Think About Immigration
In a massive survey for the American Values Atlas ,the Public Religion Research Institute , conducted over 42,000 phone interviews over a 9-month period on attitudes about immigrants and immigration reform. Its findings provide some perspective at a time when the top two Republican;presidential contenders are playing to anti-immigration reform sentiment in the GOP.
The survey found, Americans overall are more likely to say that newcomers from other countries strengthen American society than they are to believe that they represent a threat to American customs and values .
However, opinion varies dramatically between Republicans and Democrats, and even more so by age, with younger Americans holding overwhelmingly positive views about immigrants: More than two-thirds of young adults say that immigrants coming to the U.S. strengthen the country, while fewer than one in five say that immigrants threaten traditional American customs and values. In contrast, only 36% of seniors believe that newcomers strengthen American society, while close to half of seniors believe that immigrants coming to the U.S. are a threat. Notably, 12% of seniors offer no opinion on this issue. Among independents, 52 percent think immigrants are a positive while 33 percent think they threaten American customs and values.
As for Republicans:
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Isan And Racial Differences In Views Of White Privilege
Nearly six-in-ten Americans say that white people benefit either a great deal or a fair amount from advantages that black people do not have. About four-in-ten say white people benefit not too much or not at all from societal advantages.
Nearly nine-in-ten black adults say white people benefit at least a fair amount from advantages that black people do not have, including 68% who say white people benefit a great deal. A far smaller share of white adults say that white people benefit at least a fair amount from advantages in society that black people do not have , with just 19% saying whites benefit a great deal.
The partisan divide on this question is particularly stark. About seven-in-ten Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say white people get few or no advantages in society that black people do not have.
About eight-in-ten or more black, white and Hispanic Democrats say that whites benefit a great deal or a fair amount from advantages that black people do not have. However, black Democrats are substantially more likely than others to say that whites benefit a great deal from these advantages .
The differences between black and white Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents are evident across demographic subgroups.
Overall, liberal Democrats are more likely than conservative and moderate Democrats to say whites benefit a great deal from societal advantages black people do not have . And this pattern holds among both black and white Democrats.
Facts About Republicans And Immigration
Republicans are as likely as Democrats to say enactment of immigration bill is very important. Only about half of Republicans say it is extremely or very important that the president and Congress pass significant new immigration legislation this year. But that is little different from the shares of Democrats or independents who view enactment of an immigration bill as at least very important.
Republicans see benefits as well as costs from legalization. Our June survey found that a large majority of Republicans think it would be better for the U.S. economy if undocumented immigrants became legal workers. About as many said undocumented immigrants are hard workers who should have an opportunity to stay in the United States. And fully 76% say it would be unrealistic to deport everyone in the country illegally.
Yet substantial percentages of Republicans also see potential downsides from granting undocumented immigrants legal status: 77% say it would encourage more people to come to the U.S. illegally and 68% think it would reward illegal behavior. Most also say legalization would drain government services and cost U.S. jobs .
But rank-and-file Republicans are dubious. Only about four-in-ten say GOP support for legalization would help the party in national elections, 20% say it would hurt the party and 38% say it would not make much difference.
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The Gop Is Stuck In A Losing Battle Against Immigration
Our politics have become painfully and pointlessly polarized. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Republican Partys hardline stance on immigration. Even as our southern border faces the biggest migrant surge in;two decades, Republicans wont budge on immigration. To score points against the Biden presidency and the Democratic majority in Congress, too many Republicans are willing to throw bipartisanship to the wind and hold the line against any sort of Democrat-led immigration reform.;
But while playing hardball may put points on the board in the short term, the GOPs broadly anti-immigration platform is a losing strategy in the long term. To win hearts and minds for generations to come and expand its voter base, the GOP must change its tune and join the fight for immigration reform before it’s too late.
Its easy to see why Republicans are reluctant to side with Democrats on immigration. The GOP remains spellbound by the extremist rhetoric that defined the Trump presidency. Republican elected officials think their best chance at reelection is tied to the Trump legacy of an anti-immigration hard line that rejects citizenship for undocumented immigrants and focuses on restricting, rather than streamlining, our immigration process.
The obvious problem with that approach is that Trump is not the future of the Republican Party.
Quite frankly, the GOP is delusional if it doesnt see that immigration is a blessing, not a curse, for conservative America.
It’s A Losing Bet To Be Inhumane
The GOP is now a thoroughgoing immigration restrictionist party. Any nod in any other direction is just political gloss.
The United States, however, is not a thoroughgoing immigration restrictionist country. We want secure borders and orderly immigration. But we also want to be a welcoming nation, and treat people humanely and fairly.
Humane and fair treatment for Dreamers is to stop using them as immigration hostages and give them legal status. The Obama administration did so administratively.
But its program Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA is being challenged legally. And it only provides renewable temporary legal status. It removes the immediate threat of deportation, but doesnt provide the permanency young people should have in planning their lives.
House Democrats have passed a standalone Dreamers bill. Senate Democrats appear willing to do the same. But the primary GOP Senate sponsor of a standalone bill, Lindsey Graham, now says border security measures should be attached. In other words, back to hostage taking.
Republicans couldnt stop a standalone Dreamers bill in the House. With the Senates de facto 60-vote requirement, they could there.
Our southern border is a mess. That politically advantages Republicans.
But Trump lost in part because of his nasty attitude toward immigrants, rather than his immigration policies per se.
Reach Robb at .
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Views On Race And Immigration
Some of the starkest partisan divides on political values are seen in views about race and immigration: Democrats are substantially more likely than Republicans to say that the country has not gone far enough to give black people equal rights and that white people benefit from societal advantages that black people do not have. Democrats also express more positive views of immigrants and the nations growing ethnic and racial diversity.
Yet there are substantial demographic divisions within both parties on some of these values. For instance, among Democrats, there are both racial and ideological differences on issues of race. And younger Republicans are more likely than older Republicans to express positive views of immigrants and to say that openness is a defining characteristic of the nations identity.
Democrats On Illegal Aliens
They believe in providing a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, especially those who were brought here as children. They wish to greatly reform the current immigration laws, stating that todays immigration laws do not reflect our values or serve our security, and we will work for real reform. The solution is not to establish a massive new status of second-class workers; that betrays our values and hurts all working people. Undocumented immigrants within our borders who clear a background check, work hard and pay taxes should have a path to earn full participation in America. Democrats do not believe that just any illegal immigrant should be provided amnesty or a path to citizenship. They state that undocumented workers who are in good standing must admit that they broke the law, pay taxes and a penalty, learn English, and get right with the law before they can get in line to earn their citizenship. Democrats do, however, support strong repercussions for those who exploit illegal labor. This process undermines American workers, and Democrats believe that those who do so need to be held accountable.
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Religion And The Belief In God Is Vital To A Strong Nation
Republicans are generally accepting only of the Judeo-Christian belief system. For most Republicans, religion is absolutely vital in their political beliefs and the two cannot be separated. Therefore, separation of church and state is not that important to them. In fact, they believe that much of what is wrong has been caused by too much secularism.
Those are the four basic Republican tenets: small government, local control, the power of free markets, and Christian authority. Below are other things they believe that derive from those four ideas.
Most Say The Prospect Of A Majority
About two-thirds of Americans say that demographic predictions of a majority of the U.S. population being made up of African Americans, Latinos and people of Asian descent over the next several decades will be neither good nor bad for the nation. About two-in-ten say that this will be a good thing, while 13% say that it will be a bad thing.
Across all demographic groups, the most common response is that this change will be neither good nor bad for the country. Nevertheless, black and Hispanic adults are more likely than white adults to characterize this as a good thing.
These views also differ by partisanship. While majorities of both Republicans and Republican-leaning independents and Democrats and Democratic-leaners say that racial and ethnic minorities making up a majority of the population would be neither good nor bad, Republicans are much less likely than Democrats to say that this change is good . And while relatively small shares in either party say this change is bad, Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say this.
Americans are now somewhat less likely to see the prospect of a majority-nonwhite nation in the next several decades as a bad thing for the country than they were in 2016 .
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Republican View On Immigration
Americans first sums up the Republican view on immigration, emphasizing scarcity, and fear of immigration. The Republican National Committee issued a resolution congratulating President Trump on his election, adopting his Make America Great Again slogan, and his language about immigrants:
WHEREAS, It got so bad, America has seen its borders overrun, its immigration and visa laws unenforced, its sovereignty diminished, its citizens wages driven down by millions of illegal immigrants, and its security compromised with drug dealers and terrorists
While the GOP provides a scant paragraph on its website to its immigration stance, its blog posts and press releases sketch in the details. Categorization also tells a story. Underestimating the Latino vote could cost Democrats in 2020 is filed under Border Security.
Other blog post titles:
- RNC Reality Check: Democrats want to give health care to illegal immigrants
- ICYMI: Iowa Republicans Say No to 2020 Dems Open-Borders Agenda
- Democrats need to condemn anti-American ICE protests
Press release titles:
The Conservative Consensus On Immigration
Immigration is an integral part of Americas success. These individuals provide new skills, ideas, and contributions to the economy. They work hard to earn their chance at a better life. And for many immigrants, America is the only home they have ever known.
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival gave millions of individuals the opportunity to create a life in America, and their contributions to society have been great. These immigrants have become doctors, engineers, teachers, and more. They have helped fill holes in our labor force and continue to build out our economy. Learn more about why Republicans believe it is important to pass this integral legislation below.
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Where Do Democrats And Republicans Stand On The Issue Of Immigration
The difference between Democrats and Republicans on immigration is as simple as inclusion versus exclusion. Democrats seek to continue accepting asylum seekers, extend a path to citizenship for DACA recipients, and reform our legal immigration system. Republicans seek to end asylum as we know it, end DACA, and restrict legal immigration.
While Democrats embrace immigration as a defining aspect of the American character and our shared history, Republicans admit immigrants have undeniably made great contributions to our country but add: any national immigration policy must put the interests of our existing citizens first.
Greater Divide On Treatment Of Immigrants
Asked whether they believe that immigrants are “treated unfairly” in the U.S., the difference in opinion between Republicans and Democrats appeared to widen, with less than 15 percent of the former agreeing with nearly 80 percent of the latter that immigrants receive unfair treatment in the U.S.
Among Democrats, 79 percent said they agreed with the sentiment, compared with 9 percent who disagreed and 12 percent who said they felt neither way or had no opinion.
The majority of Republicans had an opposing view, with 14 percent agreeing that immigrants are treated unfairly in the U.S., compared with 65 percent who disagreed and 21 percent who said they had no opinion.
Asked whether they felt they or a family member could miss out on job opportunities or other benefits due to immigrants’ presence in the U.S., the majority of voters polled said they did not have that concern.
“By a nearly three-to-one margin California voters say it is unlikely that they or another member of their family will miss out on good opportunities in getting a job or promotion, getting into college or getting needed services because an immigrant receives the opportunity instead,” the researchers said.
However, they wrote, “the belief that it’s likely that they or a family member will miss out on job or other opportunities because an immigrant will receive the opportunity instead is highly correlated with a voter’s political views.”
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With Globalization Us Businesses Dont Need As Many Immigrants
As President Trump has noted, because of decreasing trade barriers, many U.S. manufacturing companies have closed especially those that employed large numbers of low-skill immigrant workers. Those employers are no longer around to lobby for immigration. For the same reason, those U.S. companies that do rely on manufacturing have moved their factories overseas. Why should businesses fight to bring Chinese workers to the United States when they can move factories to China?
Furthermore, companies have increasingly automated production and so need fewer workers. The U.S. steel industry, for example, produces as much steel today as it did in 1960, but it does so with a third of its former workforce. Companies also stop lobbying for immigration when they need fewer workers because of automation.
