Voters in a number of key battleground states including Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin not only overwhelmingly support humane approaches to immigration, they’re repudiating impeached president Donald Trump’s treatment of immigrants, Immigration Hub and Civiqs find in polling released just days away from the end of voting in the 2020 election.
“The polling ... reveals that battleground voters are increasingly moving away from Trump on immigration,” they said, “with a majority indicating they prefer pro-immigration policies over the status quo, particularly for America’s recovery from the pandemic—like prioritizing citizenship over deportation, protecting asylum seekers over jailing families, and limiting ICE’s jurisdiction over expanding it.”
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The Immigration Hub and Civiqs polling, which interviewed nearly 7,200 registered voters in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin this month, continues to confirm that the Trump administration’s anti-immigrant attacks are yet again appearing to backfire, as they did following the 2018 midterm elections.
“Majorities in every battleground state agree that ‘immigration enforcement has become too cruel and extreme; we should have a system that is more fair and humane,’” the polling said. “Over 60% of voters oppose jailing families who have committed no crimes and are seeking asylum; and over 57% of voters oppose the practice of detention and family separation at the U.S.-Mexico border.”
What these voters say they want is compassionate immigration policy—particularly amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, which they also say Trump has failed to properly address.
“Over 55% of voters surveyed, including a majority of Independents and 60% of Pennsylvania voters, agree that an economic recovery bill should include a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrant workers who have been essential to the pandemic response,” the polling continues. Recall that undocumented farmworkers were deemed “essential” by the Trump administration, yet were despicably shut out of financial relief.
Furthermore, being deemed “essential” hasn’t meant gaining vital protections, like guaranteed paid sick leave, unemployment insurance, financial assistance from the coronavirus packages—or even any protection from deportation. “Nearly two-thirds of voters (63%) prefer citizenship over deportation (29%),” the polling continued.
The Immigration Hub/Civiqs polling comes “amid recent revelations that over 500 children separated from their families at the border have still yet to be reunited. With more than 57% of voters opposing the practice of detention and family separation, Vice President Biden announced today a federal task force to reunite these children on his first day as president.”
Biden announced the federal task force in an ad that featured the powerful debate moment when he called the Trump administration’s treatment of children and their families “criminal.” And it is.
“Civiqs polling shows that the Trump administration’s immigration policies are widely out of step with voters in battleground states,” Civiqs director Drew Linzer said. “In every issue area—family separation, DACA, ICE, asylum-seekers—the American people oppose his views and embrace compassionate, sensible reforms,” Immigration Hub executive director Tyler Moran said. “By continuing to peddle racist messaging, Trump has only hurt himself in the states that he needs to win the most.”