By Bill Wilson
An explosive new poll proves that Biden and the Democratic Party’s approach to the southern border crisis – neglect, blame-shifting and a refusal to face facts – is creating a massive backlash among the American people against the modern immigration system. In three short years, the American public have shifted from mild tolerance of our porous southern border to labeling the border a national security concern and a massive crisis that they demand the next administration solves.
Immigration is now the second most important issue facing the country according to the latest CBS News / YouGov poll, with 21% of Americans citing immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border as the most important issue facing the country, while 29% say the economy is the most important. Support for Biden’s immigration policy is now at its lowest point on record, and an increasing number of Americans see the border as a crisis compared to ten months ago and want harsher treatment of illegals.
The poll shows Biden’s approval rating on the U.S./Mexico border crisis has fallen to its lowest point on record, with Americans giving Biden negative marks by a margin of 70% to 30%. By a margin of 63% to 16%, Americans believe the Biden Administration should be tougher on illegal immigrants.
The poll also shows the share of Americans who say the border is in crisis has risen seven percentage points since last May, from 38% to 45% presently. In addition, some 81% of Americans who say the border is in crisis cite national security as a key concern for why they feel this way.
Democrats, in particular, are growing weary of the modern policy of transporting illegal immigrants from largely Republican border states to largely Democratic-run northern states.
Republican governors in hot-bed states for illegal immigration such as Florida, Arizona and Texas began to revolt against the onslaught of illegal immigrants and bus them into “sanctuary” cities like New York, Chicago, and Washington, DC. However, Democrats – and independents – are much less supportive of this policy. According to the poll, Democrats disapprove of border states shipping migrants to northern states by a margin of 66% to 34%, and Independents disapprove 56% to 44%. Republicans favor the practice narrowly, 53% to 47%.
In addition, the share of Americans willing to “temporarily house migrants” in their own towns has decreased seven percentage points since last May. Americans now reject the idea of being forced to temporarily house migrants in their town 55% to 45%, a reversal from May 2023 when the public narrowly supported this practice, 52% to 48%.
What is more, an increasing share of Americans say they notice an influx of immigrants into their cities, with 40% saying they notice immigrants to their area increasing compared to 25% who say the numbers are decreasing.
When asked what should be done with asylum-seekers at the U.S. Mexican border, over half of the public (57%) believes the asylum seekers should either remain in Mexico and wait for a hearing or be deported permanently. Just 43% of the public believes illegals should be allowed to remain the United States while waiting for a hearing.
Notably, we see a continuation of a distinctly negative view of immigration’s long-term impact, with the public saying 48% to 22% that the influx of migrants will make society worse in the long term.
According to Gallup, the share of Americans who say immigration is a good thing has dropped precipitously by nine percentage points in three years since Biden took office, from 77% in 2020 to 68% today. October polling from YouGov showed Americans are deeply concerned about the toll illegal immigration is taking on the country, and broadly reject the idea of expanding the refugee program.
The poll asked Americans whether the United States should or should not accept refugees from Syria, Gaza, El Salvador, and Ukraine, and Americans strongly oppose accepting refugees from all countries except Ukraine.
Americans do not believe the U.S. should accept refugees from El Salvador by a fifteen-percentage point margin, 45% to 30%, even though El Salvador is one of the regions the Biden Administration is greatly expanding entry from. Americans don’t believe the U.S. should accept refugees from Syria by a fourteen-percentage point margin, 46% to 32%, and Americans reject the idea of accepting refugees from Gaza by a thirteen-percentage point margin, 46% to 33%.
According to the poll, only around a third of Americans (34%) say immigration makes the United States better off, and support for expanding the refugee program is even lower. Just 29% of Americans say refugees improve the U.S. compared to 39% who say they do not, a ten-percentage point difference.
These numbers come on top of polling from Reuters/ Ipsos that showed Americans say 54% to 46% that immigration is contributing to increased difficulties for native-born Americans. Concerns about elevated crime and a slew of drugs and other smuggled items streaming over the southern border are major drivers behind this shift in sentiment on immigration. Strains on U.S. resources are also a concern.
Biden and the Democratic Party’s refusal to secure the border and deport those who break the law and enter our country illegally has created one of the most anti-immigration generations in decades. By refusing to enforce the laws, and denying proper funding to our border patrol, globalists have turned one of the most hospitable counties on earth against an immigration system many Americans now view as exploitative and unfair. These views are rising not only on the right, but among Independents and Democrats as well, who are increasingly dissatisfied with the lawlessness of the modern immigration system, and demand the laws be enforced.
Bill Wilson is the former president of Americans for Limited Government.