According to recent Washington Post/ABC, Rasmussen, and IBD/TIPP polls, President Obama’s weakest policy vulnerability is immigration. Americans have never favored illegal immigration, amnesty, or bringing in so many immigrant workers that it hurt American wages and job prospects, but the leadership of both parties have suppressed full discussion of immigration issues for at least two decades. This has worked out well for the Democrats. In fact, it is a major part of the reason Barack Obama is President. Illegal immigration has been a major problem since 1965, but it accelerated after the 1986 amnesty, and especially after Republican President George W. Bush embraced the idea in 2001 that amnesty would convert Hispanic and Asian illegal immigrants into “natural Republicans.” A little homework on immigration issues would have prevented what the American public now believes are two of our biggest problems: illegal immigration and too much legal immigration. But most politicians don’t like homework. They like big campaign donations and acclaim by the liberal press. So Congress passes momentous legislative disasters without even reading them, much less thinking a couple steps ahead about their consequences. However, good government and sound immigration policy require honest homework and principled dedication to the best interests of all Americans.
The damage being done to American wage earners, small businesses, and taxpayers by deliberate failure to enforce our immigration laws was being successfully suppressed until President Obama went far beyond his arrogant disregard for law and order, the Constitution, and Congress and started using Central American children for a sympathy play to accomplish his amnesty agenda. The Obama-created Texas border crisis outraged most decent and reasonable people. Finally, the people are paying attention, wising up, and pushing back. In fact, even the left-leaning Washington Post and Politico believe it has opened the opportunity for Republicans to crush the Democrats in the 2014 general elections.
The Washington Post poll, in close agreement with the others, shows that 42 percent of registered voters strongly oppose President Obama’s immigration policies. Another 18 percent somewhat oppose his policies. Only 13 percent strongly approve. The total opposed come to 60 percent versus 34 percent approval. The poll also shows that 85 percent of Republicans strongly oppose the President’s immigration policies—an excellent opportunity to get out the base vote. What scares the Democrats the most is that 40 percent of independents fall in the strongly oppose category. Even eighteen percent of Democrats strongly oppose presidential immigration policies. Thirty-three percent of Hispanics strongly oppose Obama’s immigration policies, and another 21 percent somewhat oppose them, bringing the overall Hispanic leanings to 54 per oppose and 40 percent approve. Only 20 percent of Hispanic voters strongly approve the President’s immigration policies.
In general, the polls show that swing voters are intensely hostile to Obama’s immigration policies. Only 21 percent of independents, 32 percent of moderates, and 23 percent of whites approve his immigration policies. He does have the support of 62 percent of democrats and 61 percent of blacks. Blacks, however, are the group whose job prospects and wages are most damaged by illegal immigration and excess legal immigration. They are getting the message, however, since before the Texas border crisis, over 80 percent of blacks approved his immigration policies. The extremely high level of strong opposition among swing voters is of paramount importance, because strong opposition usually determines a person’s vote.
It should be noted here that only 23 percent of voters strongly approve what they perceive as current GOP immigration policies. In fact, only 22 percent of Republican voters approve. This is the legacy of two attempted amnesties and a sharp decline in immigration enforcement under George W. Bush; continued amnesty efforts led by John McCain, Lindsey Graham and a dozen GOP backers in the Senate; continuous flirtation with the Obama amnesty agenda by Republican Speaker John Boehner and his leadership team despite the opposition of at least 75 percent of GOP House members; and the pro-amnesty mindset of RNC Chairman Reince Pribus. The predominant motivation is big money donated by large corporations and business associations that benefit enormously from cheap foreign labor at the expense of American workers, small businesses, and taxpayers. Pro-amnesty Republicans also get media time and favorable attention by the mainstream liberal press.
The weak immigration stance of Republican leadership in Congress and the RNC is hurting the Republican image with voters, especially Republican conservatives. Compare the 22 percent of Republicans who strongly approve GOP immigration policy with the 85 percent who strongly oppose Obama’s amnesty. The GOP is shooting itself in both feet by not firmly opposing amnesty and excessive importation of cheap foreign labor. The Senate amnesty and foreign worker surge bill, S.744, now hanging over Congress would also double or triple the annual number of legal foreign workers and guest-workers admitted to the U.S. Its arrogant dishonesty and disregard for American workers promises far more harm to the nation than Obamacare ever could. It is also a suicide pistol aimed at the head of the GOP elephant and the heart of America. Amnesty and a new 20 to 30 million surge of immigrants and guest-workers will bring new low-information voters to the Democrats and more cheap labor campaign donations to the Republicans. This tradeoff is suicide for the Republican Party. Can the GOP survive this kind of leadership?
Republicans could crush the Democrats by using Obama’s unlawful amnesty and the evils of illegal immigration against them. But will they use the “silver immigration bullet,” as Breitbart News and Robert Patterson have called it? Many guilty Democrats, who voted for S.744, like Kay Hagan, of North Carolina, are trying to cover up their legislative record. Recent Senate race polls, however, indicate Republican hopes for a Senate majority are faltering, and their inattention to the stinging facts about illegal immigration and the consequences of amnesty run strongly against the public mood.
The Republicans had better take a tough stance on illegal immigration and amnesty, especially President Obama’s arrogant unconstitutional usurpation of immigration law-making, or they may not be a viable party in 2016.
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Leonard M. (Mike) Scruggs is the author of Lessons from the Vietnam War: Truths the Media Never Told You, 2009; and The Un-Civil War: Shattering the Historical Myths, 2011.
Mike Scruggs is the author of two books: The Un-Civil War: Shattering the Historical Myths; and Lessons from the Vietnam War: Truths the Media Never Told You, and over 600 articles on military history, national security, intelligent design, genealogical genetics, immigration, current political affairs, Islam, and the Middle East. 
