Voters in 11 battleground states key to controlling the Senate in 2018 and presidency in 2020 overwhelmingly support the Trump administration's efforts to end so-called "sanctuary" policies for illegal immigrant criminals in over 300 cities, according to a new poll on the explosive issue.
Even more significantly, over 83 percent of Hispanics want the sanctuary cities to obey federal demands to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and turn over illegals sought for deportation, according to the survey from the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
The poll, conducted by Zogby Analytics and provided exclusively to the Washington Examiner, provide the first political ammunition for sanctuary city foes and pose a potential reelection threat to key lawmakers who oppose the administration's policies.
According to FAIR, over 77 percent of voters in those 11 states want the Senate to pass the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act, already OK'd in the House.
The survey polled voters in Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Those same voters also support in similar numbers the right of victims of crime by illegal immigrants to sue sanctuary cities like New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and San Francisco that ignore ICE demands and free criminal illegals.
"The poll shows that Americans want their state and local governments to cooperate with federal efforts to remove criminals from the United States. They demand accountability for these policies from the local governments that make them and they are also prepared to hold their federal officials accountable if they block this much needed legislation from becoming law," said Dan Stein, president of FAIR.
Since President Trump's election, a handful of cities have reversed their sanctuary policies, but most like Chicago and New York have doubled down. States like Texas have sought to eliminate sanctuary policies, but have been rebuffed in courts.
The poll is the first to indicate that voters in specific states will punish lawmakers who don't back anti-sanctuary policies like the No Sanctuary for Criminals Act, known as H.R. 3003.
In Kentucky, for example, voters want Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to move on the legislation. Zogby found that 76.6 percent want McConnell to support the new legislation. And if doesn't, 66 percent would oppose his reelection.
"It is time for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to schedule debate and a vote on H.R. 3003," said Stein. "When it comes to putting criminal aliens back on the streets, voters demand accountability from the local officials who establish sanctuary policies and from federal lawmakers who block sensible legislation that would end these dangerous policies.
Understanding Gingrich-Trump: Both would ‘bomb the Capitol'
One of the most interesting relationships in the Trump era has been the president's embrace of Newt Gingrich. In his book, "Understanding Trump," Gingrich gave credit to Trump for being able to break the mold on presidential action, shift positions quickly and speak bluntly, qualities shared by the former House speaker.
And now we're learning from Reagan biographer Craig Shirley, who just released "Citizen Newt," why Trump listens to Gingrich.
"Trump respects Gingrich, I suspect, because he utterly routed the shallow Washington culture" during his years in Congress, said Shirley.
"Ronald Reagan once quipped to Gingrich how tempting it would be to bomb the Capitol, and there is little doubt Trump agrees with that sentiment," he added.
A White House insider agreed, and said that Newt's value to Trump is his outsider's view and his insider's success. "Gingrich and Trump both have one thing in common that the president loves: They took over Washington when no one expected it and turned the town upside down," said the Trump adviser.
GOP pollster David Winston, a former Gingrich aide, added that Newt always has new ideas and can focus on the big play of the day.
"What's his value to Trump? He's been the third-ranking official in the country who is one of the best idea people on the conservative and Republican side. Who wouldn't want to have conversations with him?" said Winston.
Trump warned: Taxing Canada kills U.S. jobs
President Trump's bid to Make America Great Again with a trade war targeting Canada could lead to thousands of jobless Americans, several lawmakers are warning.
At issue is the administration's consideration of Boeing's request to slap Canada's small aircraft maker Bombardier for getting into the jetliner business, creating a new competitor to its 737.
A bipartisan group of House and Senate members are warning that tariffs on Bombardier could cost 2,000 American jobs and $14 billion here because the company operates in over a dozen states.
It is unclear what Trump will do, though last week he was quoted demanding new tariff proposals.
"We recognize that Boeing's aircraft development and production activities are extremely important to U.S. leadership in the world's aerospace economy," said the letter to Trump. But, added the lawmakers, "Through your leadership, we believe that the U.S. government can help to resolve these cases in a manner that preserves the significant economic contribution and continued economic growth provided to the United States by both these fine companies."
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner's "Washington Secrets" columnist, can be contacted at pbedard@washingtonexaminer.com