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

News provided by

Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)

Nov 18, 2020, 12:13 ET

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Exit polling of Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin poll closely mirror those of voters across the country in a nationwide exit poll.

"At both the national level and among Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin voters include:

82% support maintaining border closures and restrictions due to the COVID crisis.
72% favor maintaining restrictions on admission of new immigrants and guest workers while the crisis continues, while 58% believe those restrictions should remain in place even after the COVID crisis abates.
50% support long-term reductions in immigration to limit population growth.

Support of these positions crossed all ideological and demographic lines. Hispanic voters in Wisconsin overwhelmingly responded that they supported limiting the admission of guestworkers in order to protect American jobs, even more so than the statewide average. African American voters in Wisconsin overwhelmingly supported lowering immigration levels even after the COVID-19 pandemic ends, citing a desire to protect jobs in Wisconsin from foreign labor.

Polling shows that Biden won Wisconsin by the slimmest of margins after Trump's narrow victory in the Badger State in 2016. Yet this does not mean that voters supported the radical open-borders proposals advanced by the Biden-Harris campaign, including a promise to amnesty every illegal alien in the United States. Indeed, this polling shows that the residents of the Badger State actually support President Trump's actions to shut down the border and restrict guestworker admissions as a way to protect American health and job security during the pandemic.

In the 2022 midterm elections the people of Wisconsin will return to the polls for gubernatorial and Senate races. Republican incumbent Senator Ron Johnson faces re-election, as does Democratic incumbent Governor Tony Evers. Senator Johnson has been a reliable voice supporting real immigration reform in the Senate, heading the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs which oversees immigration issues affecting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Senator Johnson also supported President Trump's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and stated that he believed the program is unconstitutional. This polling shows that even in a swing state like Wisconsin, endorsing immigration reform does not alienate voters, and particularly not minority voters.

"With an important gubernatorial and Senate race, as well as every House seat at stake in 2022, Wisconsin's 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.

"With tens of millions of Americans, including over 137,000 Wisconsinites, 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 Wisconsin 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)