OPINION:
Immigration is one of the biggest issues in the 2024 presidential election, and Democrats have been most clearly losing on it.
Americans oppose open borders and massive illegal immigration. They don’t want their tax dollars used to subsidize and reward people who cross the border illegally. And Americans overwhelmingly oppose allowing illegal immigrants to vote.
Liberal Democrats’ philosophy and performance on immigration are so bad — and so counter to what most Americans want — the issue could be decisive in defeating Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Since the propaganda media are desperate to defeat former President Donald Trump, there is a concerted effort to present the Harris-Walz ticket as new and moderate. The media are creating a fantasy version of the candidates that bears no resemblance to reality. Democrats and the media hope the illusion holds up at least through November.
This reinventing of the Democratic ticket has led to new speeches and advertising in which Ms. Harris and Mr. Walz pretend to be deeply concerned about illegal immigration, controlling the border and protecting Americans.
The trouble is, the facts repudiate virtually everything they say.
Ms. Harris has clearly expressed her position that crossing the border illegally should not be a crime. She has opposed a strong Border Patrol — and at one point suggested the agency needed to be rethought from the ground up.
We know how big the gap is between the Harris-Walz record and the American people. We have been asking Americans their opinions since 2018. We have interviewed more than 37,000 Americans, including more than 5,000 African Americans and more than 5,000 Hispanics. You can see all our data at America’s New Majority Project.
The American people strongly oppose Mr. Walz’s immigration legislation as Minnesota governor. Mr. Walz favors sanctuary cities and sanctuary states. Meanwhile, 83% of Americans want local law enforcement to detain illegal immigrants if they have been picked up for other crimes. Two-thirds of Americans (67%) favor local police arresting people who have entered the country illegally.
Scott Rasmussen reported that 55% of Americans would cut all federal funding to cities or states that declare themselves sanctuaries.
As vice president, Ms. Harris has presided over open borders, massive illegal immigration and minimal border enforcement. Meanwhile, 70% of Americans favor declaring a state of emergency at the border — and deploying the Federal Emergency Management Agency and National Guard to border communities to deal with the crisis (only 19% oppose this).
This means the real Harris-Walz position on the border faces a 4-to-1 minority among Americans. This unpopularity is the reason why Democrats and the media are creating the fantasy Harris-Walz ticket. For the next three months, you can expect to watch them take positions that are the exact opposite of their records.
Their records, however, will remain clear.
Mr. Walz is the perfect pro-illegal-immigration vice presidential candidate. As governor, he signed bills providing free college tuition and health care to illegal immigrants. He also allowed illegal immigrants to get driver’s licenses (which could enable them to vote).
According to Rasmussen, 75% of Americans would eliminate all government payments to illegal immigrants. Only 17% opposed this idea.
The Democrats’ strong opposition to voter identification requirements may be one of the greatest gaps between far-left Democrats and the American people.
By 77% to 18% (again, 4-1), Americans oppose allowing illegal immigrants to vote. Even more decisively, 85% of Americans favor requiring voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot.
In virtually every aspect, Americans strongly oppose the pro-illegal-immigration stance of the Harris-Walz ticket.
Americans also express deep dissatisfaction with the reality that millions of illegal immigrants — including thousands of criminals and an unknown number of terrorists — have entered the United States during the Biden-Harris administration.
Republicans have a huge interest in breaking through the propaganda media’s Harris-Walz fantasy campaign.
If they understand the facts, Americans will decisively repudiate the true Harris-Walz record.
But if the propaganda media and the Democrats can sustain a false narrative for three months, Ms. Harris and Mr. Walz might win the election despite the facts.
Several other topics will have a similar split between fact and fantasy, but the Harris-Walz team picked this as the opening fight.
Republicans must win the argument for factual debate — and defeat the fantasy, distortion and dishonesty.
• For more commentary from Newt Gingrich, visit Gingrich360.com. And subscribe to the “Newt’s World” podcast.
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