Majority of Americans oppose President Barack Obama’s Executive Order protecting millions of illegal immigrants from deportation and giving them three-year work permits, Tuesday Paragon Insights poll shows. Among blue-collar workers the opposition is even stronger, fueling a far-right anti-immigration sentiment.
More than two out of five voters “strongly oppose” the executive action, while less than one in five strongly supports it. Moreover, half the moderates oppose the move, while less than two in five show support.
That’s good news for Republicans, who in overwhelming numbers oppose Obama’s order.
But the order also draws opposition among low-income and blue-collar voters, traditionally a more Democratic base. Almost two out of three blue-collar workers oppose the action, almost half oppose it strongly.
Some Republicans seem to be already on this trend, like Rick Santorum, Pennsylvania ex-Senator and potential presidential candidate.
Santorum said GOP needs to be the “party of the worker,” at a conservative summit in Iowa on Saturday. He criticized Republicans for narrowing the voter base by focusing on entrepreneurs, who only constitute 10 percent of Americans.
Instead, Santorum called for appealing to workers by emphasizing that the inflow of immigrants, even legal ones, threatens workers’ job security.
If the poll is any indication, there may be a large group of Americans listening to such argument.
The poll was conducted online between Jan. 22-25. Among the 1,593 surveyed registered voters the poll has 2.5 percent margin of error.
