Independent swing voters strongly oppose President Joe Biden’s decision to lift the Title 42 border barrier in late May, according to a Morning Consult poll of 2,003 registered voters.
“With the political environment now in a much more dire state for Democrats due to persistent inflation, immigration threatens to transform the upcoming midterm elections from a defeat into a catastrophe,” according to an April 6 report by Morning Consult.
Thirty-seven percent of swing voters strongly oppose Biden’s decision to lift the barrier in late May, while just 12 percent strongly support the plan, according to the April 1-4 poll.
Overall, 55 percent of Americans oppose lifting the barrier, including 42 percent who strongly oppose the loose-migration policy. In contrast, just 16 percent strongly approve of the plan.
Morning Consult reported:
From day one, Morning Consult survey data has shown Biden’s executive actions on immigration to be his most unpopular, and even when the president was enjoying favorable approval ratings early on, voters tended to disapprove of his handling of the issue. For example, a March 2021 survey found that just 40% of voters approved of Biden’s immigration handling, 18 percentage points lower than his overall approval rating at the time.
“Immigration looks set to feature heavily in the media cycle during the fight for Congress,” the report said.
Overall, the GOP holds a 3.6 percent advantage in generic preference ballots, according to polls collected by RealClearPolitcs.com.
Without the Title 42 barrier, the migrant inflow could reach 500,000 a month — or roughly three migrants for every two American births — even though Congress’ laws bar the release of migrants into the U.S. or the hiring of illegal migrants.
That open-border inflow would cut ordinary Americans’ wages and drive up their rents, even as many voters tell pollsters that they are struggling to keep up with inflation.
The poll ratings are pushing Democratic politicians to zig-zag between their anti-migration voters and their party’s pro-migration progressive base.
For example, Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) said he would support the removal of Title 42 “if they’ve [administration officials] got a plan.”
“This is the wrong way to do this and it will leave the administration unprepared for a surge at the border,” Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) said in a statement to Politico. “We should be working to fix our immigration system by investing in border security and treating immigrant families with dignity. Instead, the administration is acting without a detailed plan.”
But agency officials do have a very detailed plan — they plan to let all the migrants in to take jobs and homes from Americans.
Media allies are trying to cover for the Democrats by shifting the subject from migration’s unpopularity to supposedly poor “messaging” by Democrats. “The party has been unable to settle on a unified message on immigration and border policy — a disconnect the party cannot afford with their slim Senate majority hanging in the balance,” Politico reported on April 5.
The Democrats’ campaign calculations are giving the GOP a vote advantage in the Senate.
There's a majority in the Senate & maybe the House to preserve the TItle 42 border barrier.
Democratic leaders know it, so they blocked a pro-Title 42 vote by withdrawing a $10B spending bill.
But the GOP's business-first wing may join the Dems. https://t.co/uzR9f6WUAa— Neil Munro (@NeilMunroDC) April 6, 2022
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