It has been six decades since the Immigration Act of 1965 vastly opened up the ability to import cheap foreign labor at the expense of American workers, and it has been four years of the Biden Administration’s disastrous open borders experiment.

With the election of President Donald J. Trump, the American people are fiercely rejecting the destructive open borders mandate and beginning to rethink cheap foreign labor as a viable economic strategy.

President Trump has promised to begin deporting millions of illegal immigrants on his first day back in office, and the American people are largely supportive of this plan to defend taxpayers and force businesses to pay citizens a livable wage instead of relying on cheap foreign labor.

Deportation is no longer a dirty word, and the public has largely accepted the deportation concept over the past four years in response to record-high illegal immigrant border crossings under the Biden Administration.

A new CBS News/YouGov poll finds that Americans support a national program to deport all illegals by a 14 point margin, 57 percent to 43 percent. This includes a broad coalition of the electorate, with moderates supporting the deportation of all illegals by 16 points, 58 percent to 42 percent, and independents supporting the move by 12 points, 56 percent to 44 percent.

The largest share of Americans – 45 percent – say deporting illegal immigrants should be a top priority for the incoming Trump administration, while just 27 percent say deporting illegals should not be a priority at all, and 28 percent say deportation should be a medium priority.

Moderates are highly motivated to deport illegals, with moderates saying by a fifteen-point margin – 39 percent to 24 percent – that deporting illegals should be a priority for the incoming Trump Administration. Independents agree, with independents saying by sixteen points – 42 percent to 26 percent – that deporting illegals should be a top priority. Hispanics say by seven points – 38 percent to 31 percent – that deporting illegals should be a top priority as well. 

Partisanship is certainly a factor, but support for deportation is increasing across traditional party lines, with one in five Democrats saying deportation should be a top priority for the incoming Trump Administration. Although a majority of Democrats – 49 percent – say deportation should not be a priority at all, 20 percent say deportation should be a top priority, and 31 percent admit it should be a medium priority. 

When asked directly if Trump were to begin deporting illegals whether he should use federal immigration and border patrol agencies to do so, Americans support the move 82 percent to 18 percent, according to the CBS News/YouGov survey.

The American people are also increasingly critical of a broader immigration policy that has encouraged the flow of cheap labor into the country and undermined economic opportunities for the middle class.

Americans’ desire to curb immigration is on the rise, with the share of Americans saying they want immigration decreased (41 percent), far exceeding the share who want immigration increased (26 percent).     

In Washington speak, we are a nation of immigrants and if it is legal, immigration is unquestionably a net positive. The history of the U.S. is – obviously – one of immigration, but policies must change to adapt to modern realities, and the cheap labor movement has put millions of Americans out of work.

Cheap foreign labor directly competes with job-seeking Americans, and those at the highest risk of displacement are working class individuals without a college education.

According to the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), the share of working-age men born in the U.S. who are in the labor force was lower in 2000 than in 1960 and in all states except for one, that number fell further from 2000 to 2023.

CIS reports that U.S. born men have been taken out of the labor force in nearly every state. In 1960, 44 out of 50 states had healthy labor participation rates above 85 percent, but that number has declined to just five states in 2023.

The number of U.S.-born men without jobs has increased by 13.8 million individuals from 1960 to 2023, and the number of immigrant men in the labor force has risen by nearly the exact same number, 13.7 million. We have a growing population of Americans who have been displaced due to cheap foreign labor, causing a host of ramifications we have barely begun to understand.

Americans for Limited Government has long recognized the threat of cheap foreign labor and was instrumental in reminding Trump White House staffers that the President ran against outsourcing white-collar jobs through certain visas in his first administration.

That fight was a success, but politicians must be reminded at every turn that their obligation is to American citizens. There is strong consensus on the right that illegal immigration is an issue that needs to be solved in the next administration. However, our critique of the modern immigration system must go beyond solving the Biden border crisis and look fundamentally at an America First immigration policy.

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