JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

HTML

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/3.2.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
        <form id="search-form" name="search-form" onsubmit="return search()">
         <input type="search" id="query" class="search-field" value="<?php echo $searchQuery;?>">
         <input type="submit" name="search-btn" id="search-btn" value="">
        </form>

JavaScript

$( document ).ready(function() {
    if ( $( '#query' ).val() !== '' ) {
        $( '#search-form' ).submit();
    }
});