National and Florida Exit Polling Reveals No Mandate for Mass Immigration Agenda, Says FAIR

News provided by

Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)

Nov 18, 2020, 11:59 ET

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Exit polling of Florida voters conducted by Zogby Analytics on behalf of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) finds that voters strongly favor continued border restrictions and tight limits on admission of foreign guest workers during the ongoing health and economic crisis. The Florida poll reveals that majorities of all voters – Democrats, Republicans and Independents – believe that longer-term, overall levels of immigration should be reduced to prevent excessive U.S. population growth. The findings of the Florida poll closely mirror those of voters across the country in a nationwide exit poll.

"At both the national level and among Florida voters, polling clearly shows that President-elect Biden does not have a mandate to institute radical immigration policies being promoted by his party's far left wing that include erasing borders and flooding the country with millions of new legal and illegal immigrants," said Dan Stein, president of FAIR. "Mr. Biden has a mandate from the voters to get the COVID-19 crisis under control, get millions of laid-off Americans back to work, and restore civility to Washington and the public square. While unchecked immigration may be a high priority for a loud and radical fringe of his party, it is not how the vast majority of voters believe the new administration should be spending their time and political capital."

Among the key findings of the Zogby Analytics poll of Florida voters include:

86% support maintaining border closures and restrictions due to the COVID crisis.
77% favor maintaining restrictions on admission of new immigrants and guest workers while the crisis continues, while 64% believe those restrictions should remain in place even after the COVID crisis abates.
60% support long-term reductions in immigration to limit population growth.

Support of these positions crossed all ideological and demographic lines. Hispanic voters, a large and growing cohort that helped flip several South Florida congressional seats from Democratic to Republican control, tended to support limits on immigration at even higher rates than the overall electorate. "With important gubernatorial and Senate races, and with addition of several new House seats at stake in 2022, Florida political leaders would be wise to pay heed to where the voters stand on immigration policy, rather than to the shrill demands of the radical fringes," Stein cautioned.

In recent years, Florida, under the leadership of Gov. Ron DeSantis, has been a leader in promoting sensible immigration policies that are broadly supported by Florida voters. Moreover, Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott can represent the interests of the overwhelming majority of Floridians by playing key roles in blocking radical amnesty and open borders immigration legislation emanating from the House.

"With tens of millions of Americans, including nearly half a million Floridians, who have been displaced from their jobs due to the COVID shutdown and the nation bracing for yet another wave of the pandemic, now is certainly not the time to increase immigration or relax border security. If there's a mandate for the Biden-Harris administration, it is to end the nation's public health crisis and put the nation's workers back to work not to radically change immigration and border enforcement policies that are clearly working," Stein concluded.

Click here for Florida crosstabs and frequencies.

Click here for national crosstabs and frequencies.

Contact: Matthew Tragesser, 202-328-7004 or [email protected]

ABOUT FAIR
Founded in 1979, FAIR is the country's largest immigration reform group. With over 3 million members and supporters nationwide, FAIR fights for immigration policies that serve national interests, not special interests. FAIR believes that immigration reform must enhance national security, improve the economy, protect jobs, preserve our environment, and establish a rule of law that is recognized and enforced.

SOURCE Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)