Illegal Immigration, Border Security Top Issue for Voters in Presidential Election

Amid the ongoing border crisis at the United States-Mexico border, new polling found that illegal immigration and border security have become one of the top issues for American voters as the 2024 US Presidential Election ramps up.

According to a Friday CNN poll, as President Biden takes to the campaign trail for his re-election, only 30% of Americans approve of his handling of illegal immigration, with 79% of Americans across party lines agreeing that it is a crisis. The poll from CNN also found that the share of Americans favoring mass deportations has gone from 15% in 2019 to 31% today. A majority of Republicans (54%) said that the US needs to prioritize deportation, going up from 32% in 2019.

Similarly, A new survey released on Monday from an I&I/TIPP Poll found that 6 in 10 Americans want a border wall at the US-Mexican completed. According to the I&I/TIPP Poll, "59% of respondents supported constructing a wall along the southern border, either 'strongly' (41%) or 'somewhat' (18%)." Only 32% of respondents "opposed the idea either 'strongly' (17%) or 'somewhat; (15%)."

The same poll also found a majority of Republicans (85%) wanting the border wall proposed by then-candidate Donald Trump during the 2016, 2020, and now 2024 presidential elections. Those who identify as Democrats (43%) also backed the idea of having a border wall to solve the illegal immigration crisis.

The latest survey also found increasing concerns of a new civil war between states, with many Americans seeing illegal immigration as a "make-or-break issue." With a margin of 49%-38%, respondents said that they were concerned about open conflict over illegal immigration. "Democrats and Republicans are nearly identical in their feelings: Democrats break 54% concerned vs. 34% not concerned, while Republicans are 55% concerned, 36% not concerned," according to analysis from the survey.

In response to the ongoing border crisis, Republican and Democrat Senators in Congress have proposed new border legislation to attempt to fix the border crisis.

Following the Senate’s legislative proposal, Republican Congressional Representatives in the House, ranging from House Majority Leader Steve Scalise to Speaker Mike Johnson, have stated that the bill is dead on arrival, given that it allows for 5,000 illegal immigrants to come into the country a day while providing automatic work permits to asylum recipients.

"The Senate plan does nothing to end the incentives to illegally immigrate to the US that have resulted in some 10 million people crossing our borders illegally over the past three years," said Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), in a newly released public statement.

"The proposal does not stop mass catch-and-release or end asylum abuse. Instead, it actually codifies a process to automatically release anyone claiming asylum, encouraging more abuse of the system."