In fact, these xenophobic voices are loud but in no way represent the concerns of Republicans. Exit polls in early contests have shown again and again that immigration ranks far below the economy and national security in importance. In South Carolina, only 10 percent said immigration was the top issue; the economy, national security and government spending ranked in the high 20s to low 30s. In New Hampshire, immigration was named as the top issue for 15 percent; the other issues were named by between 24 and 33 percent. In Iowa, those numbers were 13 percent and 25 percent to 32 percent, respectively.
The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Research poll provides more detail on what economic issues are important to voters:
The poll examines the public’s view of several economic issues by asking how important each issue is to them personally. This detailed assessment of different economic topics provides policymakers with information about the public’s economic priorities, rather than simply looking at opinions on the economy overall.More than 80 percent describe protecting Social Security and reducing unemployment as extremely or very important to them. Reducing poverty, cutting the federal budget deficit, and increasing wages to keep up with the cost of living are each important to about 7 in 10 Americans. . . . More than 8 in 10 Americans say it is extremely or very important to protect the future of Social Security and reduce unemployment. Seven in 10 say it is important to reduce poverty or reduce the federal deficit. Six in 10 say it is important to reform welfare. Nearly 6 in 10 say it is important to them personally to reduce the gap between the rich and poor. Fifty-six percent say it should be the government’s responsibility to reduce income differences between the rich and poor; 42 percent disagree.
In short, issues that are given minimal attention in the right-wing bubble are actually of much more importance to real GOP voters than immigration. Maybe that is why Trump has caught on: He understands the economic interests and priorities of voters, especially less educated and lower income voters, better than the right-wing media.
Contrary to the claims of immigrant exclusionists who do not want legal immigration (hence, Sen. Ted Cruz’s complete about-face), the public — and Republicans specifically — favor legal immigration and think it is good for the economy. “Of those asked about legal immigration, 52 percent say it helps grow the U.S. economy, while 28 percent say it hurts the economy and 19 percent say it does not make much of an impact.” Looking just at Republicans, legal immigration gets a thumbs up from a strong plurality of 44 percent. An additional 19 percent say it has no impact. And once again Trump, who favors legal immigration, is in sync with voters, while the right-wing chorus is not.
Finally, voters also favor what anti-immigration activists call “amnesty.” In South Carolina, voters in the GOP primary said by a margin of 53 percent to 44 percent that illegal immigrants should be offered legal status. And that is the wording least favorable to legalization. (Past polling shows overwhelming support for citizenship if conditioned on things such as paying a fine, learning English, etc.)
To recap, the right-wing noise machine has been wrong in multiple respects. Immigration is not a top issue for Republicans. Even within the immigration issue, the right-wing bubble’s insistence on shutting out legal immigration is at odds with the country and GOP voters. Even when it comes to illegal immigration, the deportation crowd in right-wing media does not speak for Republicans. Maybe pols and campaign gurus should stop listening to the voices that so poorly served the conservative movement and the GOP as a whole. Donald Trump evidently did.