Poll: Most Say lllegal Immigration Getting ‘Worse,’ Will Be ‘Important’ Issue in Midterms

Most voters believe illegal immigration is getting “worse” and will be an “important” issue heading into the midterm elections, according to a recent Rasmussen poll.

The survey found that 52 percent believe illegal immigration is getting “worse” in the country, followed by 32 percent who say it is “about the same.” Most Republicans and independents, 76 percent and 57 percent, respectively, believe immigration is getting “worse,” but a plurality of Democrats believe the issue remains “about the same.” 

A majority across the board, 67 percent, rate Biden’s handling of immigration issues as either “fair” or “poor.” Of those, 49 percent rate his handling as “poor,” while most independents, 54 percent, give the same rating. 

Overall, 73 percent say the issue of immigration will be an “important” subject heading into the midterm elections, and of those, 42 percent say it is “very important.” There is a consensus across the board, as most Democrats (69 percent), independents (65 percent), and Republicans (85 percent), also identify immigration as at least a “somewhat important” issue in the midterms.

Per Rasmussen Reports:

Majorities of every political category – 85% of Republicans, 69% of Democrats and 90% of unaffiliated voters – think the issue of illegal immigration will be at least somewhat important in this year’s congressional elections.

Seventy-six percent (76%) of Republicans, but only 24% of Democrats, think the illegal immigration problem is getting worse. Twenty-two percent (22%) of Democrats, but only five percent (5%) of Republicans, believe the problem of illegal immigration is getting better. Among unaffiliated voters, 57% think the illegal immigration problem is getting worse, five percent (5%) believe it’s getting better and 33% say the problem is staying about the same.

The survey was released on the same day as the Supreme Court ruling 5-4 in favor of the Biden administration ending the Trump-era Remain in Mexico policy.

The Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP) program, specifically, “requires migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. to wait in Mexico for their U.S. court hearings,” as Breitbart News detailed. Biden took action on the issue immediately upon taking office, suspending the program and triggering a flurry of legal action:

Biden suspended the MPP on his first day in office, and then his Department of Homeland Security Secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, issued a memo terminating the policy last June.

However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in December upheld a lower court’s order that required Biden to reimplement the MPP “in good faith.”

Biden began reenrolling migrants into the MPP in December after negotiating with Mexican government officials. Although the court did not set quotas to determine what a “good faith” reimplementation looks like, Biden is enrolling migrants at a sharply decreased rate from that of former President Trump.

The survey was taken June 28-29, 2022, among 1,000 likely voters and has a +/- 3 percent margin of error.