Politicized, polarized: How illegal immigration views diverged
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Republicans have grown increasingly concerned about illegal immigration during the past two decades, while Democrats have been less consumed by the issue, new Gallup survey data shows.
Why it matters: Policy disagreements and competing political pressures in Washington reflect the nation's polarized reality: The country’s views on immigration are about as divergent as possible.
- With the midterm elections around the corner, Republicans are leaning on immigration to attack the Democratic Party.
- Not only does that put Democrats on the defensive, but it rallies the GOP base.
- Roughly two-thirds of Republicans tell Gallup they're now concerned "a great deal" about illegal immigration. Fewer than 2-in-10 Democrats feel the same.
The backdrop: President Biden announced his plan to end the Trump-era Title 42 deportation policy on May 23.
- It was originally introduced as a measure to deport migrants at the southern border without chance of asylum because of the coronavirus pandemic.
- Biden’s decision has renewed a fierce debate about the best path forward for comprehensive immigration policy now that the COVID-19 pandemic is in a different phase.
State of play: The president met with House Democratic members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Monday afternoon.
They wanted to implore him to end Title 42.
- "It would be a mistake for Democrats to shy away from dismantling this cruel plank of Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda," Rep. Jesus “Chuy” García (D-Ill.) wrote in an op-ed about the issue.
- Meanwhile, Democratic senators in Georgia, Arizona, New Hampshire and Nevada have begun distancing themselves from the president and his position.
Go deeper: Americans continue to report in polls they consider immigration among the least-pressing issues facing the country.
