Poll Shows Support for Stricter Immigration Measures

In the latest Economist/YouGov poll, the most important issue overall was found to be prices/inflation, followed by immigration for conservatives and abortion for liberals. Immigration particularly has emerged as a key issue in this election cycle, with Harris and Trump holding differing views on immigration policies. However, both candidates agree that changes are needed at the border, making the issue pivotal in their presidential campaigns.

The poll, conducted Oct. 19-22 with 1,615 U.S. adults, found that Trump was favored over his opponent on handling immigration, with 49% support compared to Harris’ 36%. Members of both parties favored their respective candidate, but independents broke for Trump 48%-24%, giving him the edge.

The poll also explored respondents’ opinions on specific border policies, some of which were from the "Bipartisan Border Bill," which failed in a Senate procedural vote earlier this year. One question addressed a provision that would “shut down the border to new entrants if an average of more than 5,000 migrants per day attempt to cross unlawfully in a week,” supported by 58%, with only 21% opposed. Republicans, independents, and Democrats all supported the provision in higher numbers than those opposing.

This provision closely resembles one in the border bill, which required activation of “border emergency authority” if more than 5,000 “aliens” were encountered per day on average in a week – which if annualized would equate to 1.8 million encounters per year. Under this authority, the Secretary of Homeland Security could “summarily remove from and prohibit, in whole or in part, entry into the United States.”

Throughout her campaign, including during the September presidential debate, Harris criticized Trump for killing the bill, saying “he preferred to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem.” Trump has publicly criticized the bill, saying earlier this year that it allowed too much immigration: “Five thousand a day? That’s a lot. That’s like record-setting stuff.”

The poll also asked about policies central to Trump’s campaign. A question on whether respondents supported “arresting and deporting millions of illegal immigrants” found 54% in favor and 34% opposed. The policy was supported by Republicans and independents, and even among Democrats, 28% supported it, while 61% opposed.

On the issue of using the military to “help with arrests along the U.S.-Mexico border,” 56% supported it, and 31% opposed. This policy had 52% support among Democrats. Regarding Trump’s 2016 campaign issue, “funding a border wall that extends across the entire U.S.-Mexico border,” the poll showed 52% support and 37% opposition.

Although the poll found that these policies had stronger support among white respondents compared to other racial groups, they were also supported by Hispanics, or had nearly equal levels of support and opposition. On shutting down the border after 5,000 attempted crossings, 51% of Hispanics supported it, and 48% supported using the military at the southern border. The two issues that saw closer splits were funding the border wall and deporting millions of immigrants, both receiving 40% support and 40% opposition among Hispanics.