President Joe Biden is changing America’s views on immigration — but not the way he intended. Last year, Gallup polling showed a public that equally favored increases and decreases in immigration. Now the number of people who want less migration has nearly doubled, while calls for more immigration have dropped.
One way or the other, 58 percent of the surveyed voters say they are dissatisfied with how the White House is handling immigration.
“Biden has drawn criticism from both sides of the aisle for his border policy, and his approval ratings on immigration have been more negative than positive, with declining approval from Democrats,” Gallup reported. Among six major policy categories, Biden has his highest disapproval ratings and lowest approval scores on immigration.
The president’s current negatives on immigration among Republicans (87 percent) are three points above the previous high recorded in 2015, the last time a Democrat occupied the White House.
While a bare majority (52 percent) of Democrats remains satisfied with current immigration levels, Independents, including Libertarians, are more than three times as likely to say they want them decreased rather than increased.
Another survey – the weekly Rasmussen Immigration Index – has registered consistent public support for lower immigration levels since Biden took office. The index is now more than 15 points below where it was in late October 2020, meaning voters want tighter immigration controls.
Fifty-six percent of likely U.S. voters surveyed told Rasmussen this month that Washington is doing too little to reduce illegal border crossings and visitor overstays. Seventy-six percent of Republicans and 60 percent of Independents say not enough is being done. Thirty-four percent of Democrats took that position.
Ominously for the president, he is even under water with Latino voters. Citing a Quinnipiac Poll last fall, FAIR noted, “Despite the shrill rhetoric of lavishly funded organizations that purport to represent the interests of Hispanic-Americans, a mere 23 percent of Hispanic voters who were polled approve of President Biden’s immigration policies.”