Should there be a temporary ban on immigration while the U.S. battles COVID-19? If you’re like the majority of Americans, your answer is Yes.
So says a Washington Post/University of Maryland poll released Tuesday.
The survey was taken after the President announced he’d issue a for-the-moment moratorium (but prior to details being provided — see my coverage of those here).
In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2020
A random sampling of 1,008 adults from across the country (with a sampling error of 3.5 percentage points) found that 65% support a temporary 86’ing of nearly all immigration into the country. Thirty-five percent opposed.
The Trump administration released a statement to the Daily Caller News Foundation championing the poll’s results:
“The American people clearly stand with President Trump as he takes action to protect American workers and ensures they are the number one priority as we begin to revitalize our economy.”
As reported by the Caller, Professor Michael Hanmer of UM — who was involved with the study — was caught off guard by the numbers:
“One of the most surprising results is that majorities of 18- to 29-year-olds, who tend to be more open to immigration and have a more global perspective, support the proposal to block immigration. One way for people to deal with the reality that so many scientific and policy questions have yet to be answered is to look to concrete solutions.”
Perhaps their change of attitude was due to a feeling that the policy could affect them personally.
Unsurprisingly, more Republicans agreed with Trump than did Dems. GOP folks gave an Amen to the tune of 83%, while the Party of the Donkey was split 49%-49%.
Independents were definitely in favor at 67%.
This isn’t the first time the citizenry’s shown statistical support for a coronavirus immigration block. An Ipsos/USA Today study reported that, on April 9th and 10th, 79% of Americans were in favor of a short-term stoppage of “immigration from all other countries.”
There’s certainly a sense to it: We’ve been invaded by a foreign entity, and a lot of Americans are on board with limiting our biological imports while we figure this thing out.
It’s easy to believe that 65%+ would prefer to press Pause.
But here’s a thought: Forty-nine percent of Democrats opposing an immigration ban doesn’t seem in sync with what I believe to be a much higher percentage claiming that we should stay on lockdown. How can they want to force American citizens to stay home, while not doing the same for others?
I look forward to your response.
-ALEX
See 3 more pieces from me:
‘Take Care of the American Worker’: Trump Details His New Immigration Halt
A Real Hatchet Job: New York News Anchor Hilariously Makes One of the Worst Mistakes Possible
Find all my RedState work here.
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