Tea Party Patriots Action Honorary Chairman Jenny Beth Martin today released the results of a national survey of 1,000 likely voters conducted for TPPA June 15-19 by John McLaughlin of McLaughlin & Associates that shows that House Republicans considering voting for legislation containing amnesty for so-called “Dreamers” do so at their own peril.

“As House Republicans consider their votes on the Goodlatte-McCaul bill and the Ryan ‘Leadership’ bill, they should be aware that voting for either bill – both of which contain amnesty for a certain class of illegal immigrants – will endanger their reelection campaigns,” said Martin. “These new survey results prove the point: Likely voters do not support amnesty, and will punish Republican Congressmen who vote for it.”

“The numbers don’t lie,” added McLaughlin. “By a margin of 42% to 25% among ALL likely voters – and by a margin of 61% to 18% among GOP voters, and 59% to 19% among Trump voters – voters would be LESS LIKELY to vote to re-elect a GOP Member of Congress who voted to provide amnesty for a group of illegal immigrants. That would be a tremendous loss of support among GOP base voters. And for what? The incremental ‘gain’ Republican Congressmen may think they’re getting by voting for amnesty is virtually non-existent. Among Clinton voters, for instance, the 30% who say they’d be more likely to vote for a Republican who voted for amnesty are negated by the 26% who say they’d be less likely, and the same is true for Democrats, where 30% said they’d be more likely to vote for a Republican Congressman who voted for amnesty, while 28% said they’d be less likely. That’s a virtual wash on the gain side. A Republican Congressman who votes for amnesty is playing with fire.”

“Allowing a group of illegal immigrants to ‘jump the line’ via amnesty – whether through a renewable work authorization permit that provides legal status, or a pathway to citizenship – is simply not fair or right,” Martin continued. “It violates the rule of law, insults the hundreds of thousands of potential legal immigrants who have waited years for a chance to enter the United States legally, and acts as a magnet to lure more illegal immigrants. And on that point, there is wide agreement.”

“Again, the numbers don’t lie,” said McLaughlin. “Fully 75% of ALL likely voters do not think it is fair or right to allow a particular group of illegal immigrants to ‘jump the line,’ compared to just 11% who think it is fair. And those numbers hold across virtually all demographic subgroups – among Trump voters, the margin is 86% who say it’s not fair, to just 8% who say it is; among GOP voters, it’s 87% to 8%; even among 2016 Clinton voters, by a margin of 62% to 16%, and among Democrats, by a margin of 61% to 18%, voters don’t think it’s fair.”

“Americans have seen this kind of proposed deal before, and they’ve been burned – in 1986, when Congress passed and President Reagan signed the Simpson-Mazzoli Act, which granted amnesty to 3 million illegal immigrants in exchange for a promise to secure the border and end illegal immigration,” said Martin. “The amnesty was granted, but the border was never secured, and illegal immigration continued, virtually unabated, for the next three decades. It’s no wonder they don’t trust the government to follow through on its promise to secure the borders and end illegal immigration.”

“By a wide margin – 50% to 33% — voters do not trust the government to follow through on a promise to secure the border and end illegal immigration in exchange for amnesty for a group of illegal immigrants now,” added McLaughlin. “And again, House Republicans should pay attention – among Trump voters it’s 41% who trust against 48% who don’t trust; among GOP voters, it’s 41% who trust against 49% who don’t trust; among conservative voters, it’s 36% who trust, against 53% who don’t trust; and among voters over 55 years of age – a key group in any midterm election – it’s just 28% who trust, against a whopping 56% who do not.”

“And Republican Congressmen should know that Americans just do not support a pathway to citizenship for a group of illegal immigrants,” Martin continued. “The plurality believes illegal immigrants should not be rewarded for being illegal immigrants, and just less than a third would even support the idea of a legal status for DACA recipients. The Ryan ‘leadership’ bill contains a pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients. Voting for that bill is a recipe for disaster. House Republicans should not succumb to the pressure campaign being waged by the media and the left – the American people want them to stay strong.”

“Just over one in five likely voters – 22% – supports a pathway to citizenship for the so-called ‘Dreamers,’” added McLaughlin. “And just under one in three – 32% — supports a legal status. But a full 38% believes they should receive no reward. Here’s where House Republicans should really pay attention: Among Trump voters, fully 60% oppose a reward, while just 7% support a pathway to citizenship, and among GOP voters, 59% oppose a reward, while just 8% support a pathway to citizenship. Voting for the Ryan bill would be a self-inflicted wound from which few Republicans could recover.”

FULL SURVEY RESULTS, INCLUDING CROSSTABS CAN BE VIEWED HERE