Thread by @paulcrider

Very interesting stuff! I will quickly live tweet this. The headline result is that @emilyekins and @AlexNowrasteh find similar results to Gallup's tracking poll, finding increasing support for immigration since about 2010. 1/n

https://twitter.com/AlexNowrasteh/status/1387049577333682197

This is mostly from Democrats, though note that despite increasing(ly loud) overt racism from the GOP, Republicans have not gotten more restrictionist over the past 20 years. @POTUS take note: embrace immigration! You have stable support from Democrats. 2/n

I'm here to tell you that "racist beliefs" and a "sincere interest in controlling the border" are, uh, not mutually exclusive. Turns out you can have a sincere racist interest in controlling the border! 3/n

You know what I'm just gonna trust the African Americans on this one over the white Americans who don't think it's racist. 🤷‍♂️ 4/n

Immigration expanders are more likely to know immigrants, more likely to live in dense areas, and are more likely to have higher education and higher incomes. But also more likely to be younger. I think there's a tension between being younger and having higher incomes? 5/n

A majority believe immigration is a human right! I did not expect anywhere close to a majority. But only a third want to eliminate all restrictions. Does this suggest we should be talking more about "freedom of movement" or "human right to migrate" instead of open borders? 6/n

I think "eliminate all restrictions" may just sound too strong. People may just want to ensure that the government can observe and manage the flow. 7/n

This is a libertarian framing. I'd love to see the oppositely primed question: "If more immigration meant greater economic growth and a larger tax base to support increased social spending, would you be more likely or less likely to favor increasing immigration?" 8/n

No commentary on this one. Just interesting stuff. 9/n

A majority supports simplifying legal immigration. Combine this with tweet 6 and consider this rhetoric: "We should support our government's capability to protect the human right to migrate by making legal immigration easier." We shouldn't be anti-government about this! 10/n

Interlude: Okay need to do some work. I'll pick this thread up later.

This is interesting because I think I'd answer "little control" because of the general observation that immigration restrictions tend to induce black market migration & alternative routes, and to halt cyclical migration. 11/n

cc @DataProgress for a survey with a question like this.

A majority of Republicans favor stripping children of their citizenship if their parents are illegal immigrants. 12/n

I'm scratching my head over the bimodality of this one. Why does the intruder/invader fraction go *up* moving from immigration moderates to immigration expanders?? 13/n

Okay so obviously Republicans are pretty gung-ho about deporting immigrants who say things they don't like (is this Cancel Culture?), but 42% of Democrats favoring deportation for immigrants who say Americans are racist is pretty distressing! 14/n

Interestingly, I agree with Republicans that voters should get a say in immigration policy. I just think that potential immigrants—as the most directly impacted parties—should number among the voters! 15/n