In just under two years, the Biden Administration has opened our border, dismantled our sovereignty, and significantly altered the country’s demographics. Yet, after the first midterm of his presidency, Joe Biden and his party largely escaped voters’ wrath unscathed.
Since Biden took office in January 2021, roughly 5.5 million illegal aliens have entered the U.S., according to an analysis from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). This has led to a record number of Americans dying of fentanyl overdoses, which is now the leading cause of death amongst young Americans. It has led to a record number of suspected terrorists crossing our border, endangering our national security. It has set a precedent for the number of migrants dying as they make the dangerous trek from Latin America to the southern border. Yet, despite all of this avoidable carnage, immigration did not register as a top issue in the 2022 midterm elections.
There has been diverse research as to how Americans prioritize immigration. A Zogby poll commissioned by FAIR found that half of voters nationwide saw securing the border and stopping illegal immigration as a top immigration issue for the new Congress.
Yet, just ten percent of American voters listed immigration as the top issue, according to a CNN exit poll. Voters rated inflation, abortion, crime, and gun policy as more important to them than immigration. Some states that have been hit especially hard by the fentanyl crisis (such as Pennsylvania) still elected Biden-endorsed candidates up and down the ballot. Other candidates such as J.D. Vance in Ohio, who made combatting the fentanyl crisis a central part of his campaign, won resounding victories.
While it’s hard to know for sure until all of the results are finalized, it seems that candidates across the country largely failed to connect the border crisis to the surge of fentanyl deaths and drug overdoses amongst young Americans. This failure likely explains why immigration was not a bigger priority for voters in this election. While Americans experience the effects of inflation every time they go to the grocery store, candidates were not able to sufficiently demonstrate how the immigration crisis affected Americans’ daily lives.
This does not mean that immigration did not have any impact on the midterms, nor does it mean that the election was a total failure for advocates of a saner immigration system. For example, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis won re-election by roughly 20 points months after flying illegal aliens to Martha’s Vineyard in a show of defiance towards the Biden Administration’s immigration policy. While the corporate media threw a hysterical fit over DeSantis’ tactics, voters in the Sunshine state backed the governor, and rewarded him with a historic victory on election night.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who made similar waves shipping illegal aliens to left-wing cities, also won his re-election by a bigger-than-expected double-digit margin. The press savaged DeSantis and Abbott for months, but voters appreciated the governors’ aggressive pushback against the Biden administration’s assault on their sovereignty. And this showed across the nation. Swing-state voters generally rewarded candidates who forcefully pushed back against Biden’s border crisis, while punishing those who took a more passive approach.
The movement of Hispanic voters towards the Republican Party also continued, especially in Texas and Florida. While the economy likely contributed to that, polls have shown that Hispanic voters appreciate candidates who oppose Biden’s border policies, which have led to a decline in the quality of life for many of these voters.
The results of this election will almost certainly not cause Biden to change course on immigration, and it’s unlikely that it would have even if Biden’s candidates had been routed across the board. This administration is committed to its anti-borders project because it believes it will bear fruit politically in the long-term. While there should be increased congressional oversight going forward, Biden said after the midterms he does not plan to do anything differently over the next few years. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer spent his first days back on Capitol Hill after the election touting amnesty to legalize millions of illegal aliens currently living in the U.S. While the proposal is unlikely to become law, it shows that the recent election have emboldened anti-border forces.
This misunderstanding of the election results will only cause more human suffering on both sides of the border. Unless the immigration issue is given greater priority by American citizens, this will be the new normal.
William Davis is a communications associate for the Immigration Reform Law Institute, a public interest law firm working to defend the rights and interests of the American people from the negative effects of mass migration.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller.
