By Manzanita Miller

Guest columnist to the Courier

In a striking new public opinion survey, the American peoples’ mandate to Congressional Democrats has never been clearer. As southwest border encounters plummeted in May to just 12,452 according to the latest data from Customs and Border Protection, voters are calling on Democrats to abandon their ideological opposition to President Trump’s policy goals, compromise with Trump to get things done, and give the Administration’s immigration overhaul a chance to succeed before interfering.  

The latest Harvard-Harris survey conducted June 11-12 among 2,097 registered voters found that voters do not support radical Democrats like Sen. Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) who are calling for Democrats to adopt an aggressive opposition toward the Trump Administration. Instead, voters say by ten points — 55 percent to 45 percent — that they support moderate Democrats who are willing to compromise with Trump on issues important to their base.      

Republicans say they favor moderate Democrats who are willing to compromise with Trump by 50 points — 75 percent to 25 percent. Independents say they favor moderate Democrats who are willing to compromise with Trump by 16 points — 58 percent to 42 percent. Although 70 percent of Democrats say they support radical Democrats like AOC and Sanders blocking Trump’s agenda, a full 30 percent support moderate Democrats who are willing to work with President Trump.    

Voters also support a key pillar of the Trump Administration’s approach to illegal immigration —deporting illegals who have criminal records. A whopping 80 percent of Americans support the deportation of illegals with a criminal record while just 20 percent oppose it. Deportation of illegals with a criminal record is a largely bipartisan issue — 88 percent of Republicans, 80 percent of independents and even 72 percent of Democrats support the measure.   

Despite raucous protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement in cities across the nation, the survey shows voters want to give President Trump’s immigration strategy a chance to work.

Voters say they want Congressional Democrats to give President Trump’s immigration strategy a chance to work before interfering by an eight-point margin — 54 percent to 46 percent. Republicans say by 60 points — 80 percent to 20 percent — that Congressional Democrats should employ a wait and see approach and give Trump’s immigration strategy a chance. Independents agree by 16 points — 58 percent to 42 percent. While over three-quarters of Democrats (76 percent) believe Congressional Democrats should oppose Trump’s immigration approach, 24 percent say want Democrats to give President Trump’s immigration strategy a chance to work before interfering.    

The survey also reveals that immigration has once again risen in importance to voters, with voters ranking immigration as the second most important issue facing the country after inflation and prices. 34 percent of the public says inflation is the most important issue to them, while 32 percent say immigration is. Immigration is currently beating out the economy and jobs (28 percent) and healthcare (18 percent) in terms of importance.      

For years, Democrats have run on a far-left agenda that villainized the Trump Administration’s policy priorities and set up roadblocks to deter him, but voters are calling for compromise. In addition, voters believe by a double-digit margin that President Trump’s immigration strategy should be given the chance to work instead of blocked from the start.  

While a majority of Democrat voters still believe Congressional Democrats should oppose the Trump Administration’s policy agenda, a sizeable minority want to give the president’s approach a chance. A majority of independents believe Congressional Democrats should work with Trump and give his approach to immigration a chance to work. While this is an early poll, it hints at moderate Democrats having a higher chance of success against radical career politicians in the midterm election cycle, especially among swing voters. 

Manzanita Miller is the senior political analyst at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.