With primaries wrapping up around the country, one topic is on many people’s minds. Immigration. Voters are wondering how the November election will be impacted by immigration
With increasing numbers of illegal border crossings in the past three years, many Americans are on edge about what this could mean for the country. According to The Wall Street Journal, both Democratic and Republican voters are worried about increasing crime rates, a higher population of homeless people, and budget cuts made to support the influx of migrants.
In February 2024, a Gallup poll found that 28% of Americans believe immigration is the United States’ most important dilemma. The poll also discovered that more than half of Republicans rank it as America’s number one current issue. These Republicans are included in the 67% of adults who disapprove of Biden’s management of immigration over the past three years.
While Republicans have been worried about immigration for years, now a significant number of Democrats are concerned with migrant numbers and related problems. According to the February Gallup poll, 10% of Democrats rank immigration as the most important issue. Fourty-two percent of Democrats disapprove of Biden’s stance on immigration.
During his four years in office, Trump increased border security, made the path to citizenship almost impossible, and made public statements criticizing migrants on a regular basis. He has stated that he hopes to continue what he started during his presidency if he were to get back into the Oval Office.
Biden took a very different approach. During Biden’s first year in office, he declared that he planned to create policies that would create more opportunities for immigrants to gain American citizenship. If he remains in office for a second term, he plans on continuing his work on creating a more accessible path to citizenship.
The increasing concerns about immigration and the opposition to Biden’s handling of immigration could play a major role in determining the next President of the United States.
A poll from Marquette University found that while 92% of Republicans and right-leaning independents have more faith in Trump’s ability to handle immigration, only 52% of Democrats and left-leaning independents believe Biden will do a superior job with immigration.
With more and more importance being placed on the candidates’ immigration standpoint, and little faith in Biden’s ability to handle immigration from his supporters, Biden may struggle to remain in office unless he manages to adjust his current immigration guidelines and numbers.
However, rather than ensuring voters that he will make improvements on immigration, Biden’s campaign team has been attacking Trump’s promises to lower immigration numbers and create stronger border security.
According to CBS News, the Biden campaign has labeled Trump’s plan to deny children of unauthorized immigrants the right to citizenship as an effort to use “children as pawns.” The current president’s team has also publicly stated that Trump’s immigration agenda is “racist” and “cruel.”
Biden is not the only candidate taking an aggressive standpoint on immigration.
Donald Trump’s team has been making immigration a focus of their campaign thus far. On the campaign trail, Trump has made many promises, ensuring voters that he will make record-breaking deportation numbers and increase border security. According to CBS News, The Trump campaign’s spokesperson, Steven Cheung, claimed that Democrats, including Biden, were “directly responsible for the completely lawless and open border, allowing deadly drugs to flow into communities,”.
Based on the importance being placed on immigration by voters and candidates alike, it will most certainly make a major impact on the 2024 election.
