Voters are signaling to President Joe Biden that they may not be willing to overlook his border bungling in the next election amid a new report that October saw another record level of illegal crossings.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection late Monday said it stopped 230,678 illegal immigrants at the border, up 1.4% from 227,547 in September and the highest since May.
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It was the first report since the Biden administration tried to save face by giving the boot to border chief Chris Magnus.
Troy Miller, the acting CBP commissioner, said that illegal immigrants from Cuba and Nicaragua pushed the numbers to “an historic high.”
Voters are paying attention, especially as former President Donald Trump readies to announce his 2024 campaign on Tuesday night. He made border control, and the construction of a border wall, a key factor in his past two races and presidency.
A new Election Day exit poll conducted for the Federation for American Immigration Reform showed that the issue was a vote driver this week and is likely to become even more of one if the White House continues to let the border crisis stand.
By a wide margin of 62% to 32%, voters said that they favor strong action to secure borders and deport illegal immigrants instead of granting amnesty or increasing the number of people admitted legally. Half of voters nationwide said that “securing the border and stopping illegal immigration” should be the top immigration issue for the new Congress.
“Voters want the border brought under control, the wall built, and our nation’s immigration laws enforced,” said FAIR President Dan Stein.
“The likely speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, pledged that a border security bill will be the first piece of legislation he brings to the floor next year, and he has a clear mandate to fulfill that pledge. Additionally, the House must use its power of the purse to ensure that this administration is not given a blank check to spend taxpayer money to undermine immigration laws, as they have for the past two years. When it comes to immigration and border enforcement, the Biden administration has betrayed the trust of the American people. It is now up to congressional Republicans to show they can earn that trust,” he added.
Many in GOP leadership agree. Indiana Rep. Jim Banks told Secrets: “The Biden administration has created the worst humanitarian crisis in modern American history. Next Congress, Republicans’ top immigration priority will be securing our southern border and voters will reward us for it in 2024.” Banks, a Republican, plans to run for the No. 3 House job, the majority whip.
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Here are the key findings from the Zogby Analytics Zogby Poll conducted for FAIR:
- Eighty-three percent of voters said immigration was an important factor in their voting decisions.
- Fifty-six percent believe the border is insecure or out of control.
- Sixty-four percent want to see the border security wall completed.
- Fifty-five percent believe Biden’s policies encourage mass illegal immigration, compared with only 11% who think his policies discourage it.
- Two-thirds of voters want to end widespread abuse of our asylum process.
- Fifty percent of voters believe that securing the border is the most pressing immigration policy issue facing the nation.
- Only 8.8% of voters believe granting amnesty to illegal immigrants is a priority.
