Close to half of voters in a new poll see former President Trump as the candidate best suited to handle issues related to the U.S. southern border, a top issue ahead of November’s general election.
A new poll from Decision Desk HQ/News Nation found 46 percent of voters think Trump is the better pick to deal with the border. Roughly a quarter, or 26 percent, think President Biden is the candidate to trust, and another 13 percent weren’t sure.
Split up by party, support is higher for the Republicans’ candidate on immigration – with 85 percent of GOP voters picking Trump and 61 percent of Democrat voters picking Biden.
Immigration is a key issue in the 2024 race as Biden and Trump both campaign for another four years in the White House. It just topped Gallup’s list of most important problems for Americans for the third straight month, surging above government, inflation and the economy in general. Notably, though, immigration came in behind inflation in the DDHQ poll.
Republicans have seized on issues at the border as they seek to expand their House majority and flip the senate in November, bashing the Biden administration for its management.
Trump has leaned into incendiary rhetoric about immigration along the campaign trail, warning about “migrant crime” and suggesting immigrants were “poisoning the blood” of the country.
Meanwhile, Biden’s campaign has warned that “we cannot go back” to the Trump administration’s handling of the issue.
“Here’s what I will not do: I will not demonize immigrants, saying they ‘poison the blood of our country,’ as he said in his own words,” Biden said at the State of the Union this year, with a jab at Trump.
Six in 10 voters in the new DDHQ poll say immigration has had a negative impact on the country. Notably, though, just 47 percent say the matter has had a negative impact on their own community.
Sixty-three percent of all voters say they’re very or somewhat concerned about immigrants voting illegally, with nearly nine in 10 Republicans expressing that worry.
Research shows noncitizen voting is extremely rare, despite recent debunked rumors suggesting migrants are registering to vote in swing states.
Recent analysis from the Bipartisan Policy Center found that “any instance of illegally cast ballots by noncitizens has been investigated by the appropriate authorities, and there is no evidence that these votes—or any other instances of voter fraud—have been significant enough to impact any election’s outcome.”
Decision Desk HQ, at the direction of NewsNation, polled 1,000 registered voters between April 16-17. The margins of error vary across questions due to item non-response and the base rate, but a comparable probability survey would have the margins of error reported as plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Rafael Bernal contributed.