A recent poll revealed that a majority of voters support a bipartisan immigration bill backed by President Joe Biden, which marries funding for the border with aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
The Blueprint poll released Wednesday found that 58% of voters support the deal, including 64% of independents, even as most respondents expressed “worry” over Biden’s border policies.
“What these numbers indicate to me is that voters are really, really, really hungry for someone to do something about this issue,” Evan Roth Smith, Blueprint’s head pollster, told the Washington Examiner. “Voters want to see action on the border, or at the very least, they want to see someone try to take some action on the border. And right now, the way this is shaking out, Biden was the person who tried to do something.”
“The good news for President Biden and the lion’s share of congressional Democrats is that they are standing on the same side as voters on this issue,” Roth Smith said in a press release. “But at the same time, these numbers demonstrate that the voters President Biden needs to win over in November are concerned about him being overly lenient on immigration.”
The poll found that 84% of voters want to increase resources for security and enforcement at the border, including 96% of Republicans, 72% of Democrats, and 82% of independents. Additionally, 66% of voters support increasing aid to Taiwan, 62% for Israel, and 59% for Ukraine.
It also showed that most voters are concerned with Biden’s enforcement of border policies, with 60% indicating they are worried Biden would allow immigrants to cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally, and 57% worried Biden would allow all immigrants living illegally in the United States to stay forever.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) echoed a similar sentiment in a Jan. 30 opinion piece for the Hill.
“Securing the border requires forcing Biden to enforce the law,” Scott wrote. “Nothing we have seen over the past three years suggests he will do that. That’s why McConnell’s plan to give Biden and Democrats a win that they can campaign on and claim they’re working to solve the border crisis is a joke.”
The poll revealed an electoral opportunity for congressional Republicans up for reelection in November, as 39% of respondents say they would be more supportive of a Republican who supports the deal. On the other hand, 17% say they would be less supportive of a Republican who supports it.
Roth Smith explained to the Washington Examiner why he thinks the “risky, potentially flawed” Republican strategy on public opinion over the border has backfired on the GOP. Republicans tried to “hammer the president on it until he tries to do something” and then take the problem away from him, he argued.
“But I don’t think that’s what they’ve accomplished here,” Roth Smith said. Instead, Republicans have created an environment in which voters are “supportive of Democratic politicians who support a deal” and that if a deal does not get done, it will reflect poorly on the GOP in the eyes of the electorate.
The Senate is expected to hold a procedural vote in which 60 votes will be required to advance the measure on Wednesday. However, several Republican senators have expressed pessimism about securing enough votes.
“This data makes it crystal clear that voters are willing to reward members of both parties for getting to a yes on a legislative package that pairs border enforcement with foreign aid, and Republicans will be punished at the voting booth for playing games with the border and national security,” Roth Smith said in a press release.
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“The ongoing negotiations present a golden opportunity for the president and Democratic lawmakers to demonstrate they are able to deliver a legislative win on critical, difficult issues, as the deal stands in the cross hairs of ideological opposition from the left and politically cynical and pigheaded antagonism from the right,” he said.
The poll commissioned by Blueprint and conducted by YouGov surveyed 1,001 voters from Jan. 22 to Jan. 29. Blueprint and YouGov are polling companies that lean left.
