Immigration Is An Issue That Motivates Republicans

Republicans agree with Trump on immigration, poll shows

Posted on November 12, 2015 by Tribune News Service

WASHINGTON (TNS) — Republicans need to make gains with Hispanic voters in 2016, but that reality is complicated by the fact that more adults support Donald Trump’s hard-line stance on immigration, a new Economist Group/YouGov Poll finds.

A whopping 49 percent of Republicans and independents who lean to the GOP say Trump is the presidential candidate who can best handle the issue — well ahead of Marco Rubio with 10 percent GOP support, Ted Cruz with 7 percent and Jeb Bush at 5 percent.

The divide in the GOP over how to address issues stemming from illegal immigration spilled over in the fourth Republican presidential debate on Tuesday night. The opt-in, Internet survey was taken Nov. 5-9, before the economy-focused debate in Milwaukee.

Trump traded barbs with Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who called the front-runner’s idea to deport the estimated 11 million immigrants who arrived in the U.S. illegally “a silly argument” that “makes no sense.” Bush also attacked Trump, saying mass deportation would tear communities apart.

“Even having this conversation sends a powerful signal,” Bush said during the debate in Milwaukee. “They’re doing high-fives in the Clinton campaign now when they hear this.”

Trump’s plan to end so-called birthright citizenship and send all unauthorized immigrants who have criminal convictions back to their home countries helped propel him to the top of polls this summer. Rubio and Bush both support a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants who undergo a background check, learn English and pay fees or taxes.

In another sign of GOP support for Trump’s strict immigration policies, more poll respondents reacted favorably to a comment by the real-estate mogul.

Sixty-five percent of Republicans and the independents who lean that way agreed with this statement: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.” Trump said that in June, but poll respondents weren’t told who said it.

By contrast, 77 percent of Republicans disagree with this comment: “Yes, illegal immigrants broke the law, but it’s not a felony. It’s an act of love; it’s an act of commitment to your family.” Poll respondents weren’t told that Bush said the comment in April.

A wide range of Republicans, including 2008 presidential nominee John McCain, have said the party could be in danger of losing the 2016 White House race if the GOP doesn’t make gains with Hispanic voters.

Less than a third of Americans, or 31 percent, believe the GOP’s position on immigration would hurt the party compared to 17 percent of the Republicans in the survey.

The divide among GOP presidential candidates on immigration comes as both Speaker Paul Ryan and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have declared a legislative overhaul dead while President Barack Obama is in office.

The poll results also come as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit on Monday blocked the Obama administration from implementing executive actions that would expand deportation deferrals and work benefits for millions of immigrants who entered the country illegally. The government lawyers said they would appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court, which is seen as the best path for Obama’s executive orders.

The overall sample of the Economist Group/YouGov poll was 2,000 adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. Data reflect responses from 633-635 Republicans and independents who lean Republican. CQ Roll Call is part of The Economist Group.

–Lindsey McPherson
CQ-Roll Call

Immigration Just The Beginning Of Obama's "Go It Alone" Strategy. Environmental Issues, Mideast Issues And Declaring Himself King Are Potential Areas Of His Attention.

Obama to Give Temporary Status to Millions of Illegals

(Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

Wednesday, 19 Nov 2014 01:25 PM

By Melanie Batley and Newsmax Wires

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President Barack Obama plans to describe the steps he will take to fix the immigration system in an address to the nation on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET , the White House said on its Facebook page on Wednesday.

"Everybody agrees that our immigration system is broken. Unfortunately, Washington has allowed the problem to fester for too long," Obama said in a video announcement posted to the website.

"So what I'm going to be laying out is the things that I can do with my lawful authority as president to make the system work better even as I continue to work with Congress and encourage them to get a bipartisan, comprehensive bill that can solve the entire problem," he said.

Obama also said he will travel to Del Sol High School in Las Vegas on Friday to discuss his action. The school was where he first laid out his ideas for immigration reform two years ago, he said.

Republicans have been lining up a response strategy while activists are managing their expectations.

Under the executive action plan, Obama would ease immigration rules on millions of undocumented immigrants, a source familiar with White House deliberations, has told Reuters.

The order, which will set up a showdown between the White House and Republicans in Congress, would give relief from deportation to millions of undocumented immigrants who are parents of U.S. citizens or of permanent legal residents, according to the source, who asked not to be identified.

According to Politico, congressional leaders and potential Republican presidential candidates are preparing legislation and arguments to deploy an effective public offensive, while attempting to avoid turning off Hispanic voters.

Former, and possibly future, presidential candidate Rick Santorum said the party should focus on the negative economic impact of a policy that could give as many as five million illegal immigrants access to work permits.

"Is this a constitutional crisis? Yes," the former Pennsylvania senator told Politico. "But we have to put it in terms of … what it means to average working Americans. At a time when the economy is struggling and wages are stagnant, you're dumping 5 million people into the workforce."

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, also a potential 2016 contender, has said the GOP should emphasize that unilateral action ignores the will of the people who voted against the Democrats in the midterm elections.

"The American people overwhelmingly rejected his policies all across the country," Jindal told Politico. "In previous cycles, he said elections have consequences. Talk about arrogance."

The Republican National Committee will likely focus on the contradictory messages the president has made about the scope of his authority to act in changing immigration law.
"We don’t know how far he'll go," RNC spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski, told Politico.

"But we do know it's always been about politics and we're going to make sure Americans know that Obama himself said the action he's contemplating 'would be very difficult to defend legally' just two years ago."

It was not yet clear which parents of citizens or permanent residents would be included, the source said, and the Obama administration had been looking at options including those parents who have been living in the United States for five years or 10 years.

The reported trip would come after a top Obama aide is scheduled to meet with Senate Democrats on Thursday. White House chief of staff Denis McDonough, who is likely to be pressed on the immigration issue in the closed-door luncheon.

Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, have been urging Obama to move quickly on immigration. Some have pointed to his failure to take executive action on the issue as costing Democrats votes in this month's congressional elections and setting up a Republicans sweep of congressional election earlier this month.

Obama has warned Republicans in Congress that he would act unilaterally if they continue to block comprehensive immigration legislation.

But, Congressional lawmakers, meanwhile, are considering piecemeal legislation to try to demonstrate that the party has its own strategic plan beyond simple opposition to the president's, Politico reported.

One bill could focus on border security while another could center on expanding the number of high-tech visas. Other measures could try to defund the president's proposals or require Obama to enforce existing immigration laws.

Appearing on Newsmax TV on Monday, former U.S. attorney general Alberto Gonzales urged the president to engage Congress in hammering out an immigration deal instead of just issuing his own executive order.

"Even assuming that in fact he has the authority I don't think it's the right thing to do at this juncture," Gonzales said on "The Steve Malzberg Show."

"It's a temporary solution to a very serious problem. It makes it more difficult to get comprehensive immigration reform in the future going forward."

Story continues below video.

Meanwhile, immigration rights activists are trying to manage their expectations about the scope of the president's plans after administration officials began prepping them in calls on Tuesday, The Hill reported.

"They're setting expectations, making it clear he has the legal authority to do what he's going to do, but that he's not going beyond his authority, as some advocates would like," one source familiar with the calls told The Hill.

The White House has still not revealed any specifics of the president's planned action and White House domestic policy council director, Cecelia Munoz, said Obama was still making decisions about the content and timing of his announcement, The Hill said.

"He's going to go as far as he can under the law," Munoz told MSNBC, according to The Hill.

Sources have said Obama is expected to take actions to allow some undocumented people to live here at least temporarily without the threat of deportation and to hold jobs in the United States. Obama's executive order could also include further border security steps, they said.

Obama also is expected to stress that he wants to focus efforts on deportations of illegal residents with serious criminal backgrounds.

Related stories:

• Pew Study: Undocumented Immigrants Compose 5.1 Percent of Workforce
• Obama to Include More Tech Visas in Immigration Plan

© 2014 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Univision Poll Shows Immigration Low On Concerns For Hispanics. It's Talking Head Issue But Nothing More.

Hispanic Voters Upend Democrats’ Midterm Immigration Reform Focus In Univision Poll

August 8, 2014 by Personal Liberty News Desk 

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Maybe the Democrats’ idea of immigration “reform” is appealing, on some level, to California’s heavy population of Hispanic voters; maybe it isn’t. But one thing appears clear after viewing the results of a poll released by the Spanish-language TV network Univision: It’s nowhere near the top of their list of hot issues going into the 2014 midterm elections.

Apparently under the impression that they, as citizens and voters, are Americans first and foremost, California’s sampling of Hispanic voters put a slew of broader National issues ahead of immigration as decisive factors that will sway their votes this year.

Where among the list of hot issues did immigration rank?

Well, education was named by 21 percent of the California Hispanic voters who were surveyed, garnering more top-priority attention than any other issue. That was followed by jobs (16 percent); government spending (15 percent); Social Security (13 percent); growing personal wealth (ten percent) and health care (nine percent).

Immigration came in as the top priority for eight percent of California’s Hispanic voters – taking seventh place in that long list.

In addition, the survey asked the State’s Hispanic voters to identify what their “major concern or complaint” about the Republican Party. Only ten percent responded by calling out Republican opposition to immigration reform, and only five percent said their biggest gripe with Republicans is that they favor white people over minorities.TT