A new poll conducted by the Immigration Hub and Global Strategy Group found that as the 2024 elections have grown closer, even a majority of Democratic voters are concerned with the country’s southern border security issue.
The survey was conducted from Feb. 7 to Feb. 19, asking “1,200 likely voters” in “battleground states” like Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania a series of questions on immigration, as well as 200 additional interviews of Hispanic voters within the states. Nearly 43% of voters said immigration was among their top issues of concern for the 2024 election, with 65% stating they wished Congress had passed the border bill that was rejected by Republicans in the Senate. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: House Republicans Introduce Bill To Detain And Deport Illegal Immigrant Sexual Predators)
Although Democrats strongly supported questions that would be “providing legal pathways for Dreamers and those undocumented immigrants who have been here for many years,” they notably were just as concerned with border security policies, the poll found. Roughly 84% of Democrats stated they would support investing in “increased screening capacity at the border to find fentanyl and other illegal drugs.” The same percentage of Democrats supported “improving technology and infrastructure” to “modernize the way the border is monitored.”
People cross a canal after walking over the dry Colorado River to cross illegally into the U.S. from Mexico on March 16, 2006 the border town of near San Luis, south of Yuma, Arizona. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
Voters across the board additionally supported “increasing the number of Border Patrol agents,” with 73% of Democrats, 74% of Independents and 88% of Republicans supporting it. Notably, Republicans had higher support for “banning asylum,” with 47% of Republicans supporting it versus 17% of Democrats. 30% of Republicans supported returning to the policy regarding “separating immigrant families at the border” versus 14% of Democrats.
As the border crisis has continued and affected many blue cities, some Democrats have now been vocal with their criticism of the federal government’s handling on the southern border. Former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ripped the Biden administration Sunday, calling his state’s migrant influx the “worst government blunder” he has seen since his time in politics.
Former top lawyer for House Judiciary Committee Democrats Julian Epstein also recently spoke out against the Biden administration by stating that the Democratic “elites” were “out of touch” with the issues on the southern border.