As Title 42 ends, 68% of people want immigrants to ‘Remain in Mexico’
Conn Carroll
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The Supreme Court may have thrown the end of Title 42’s role as an immigration enforcement tool in doubt Monday night, but there is no doubt about what voters want to see happen at the southern border: stricter border enforcement policies.
Asked by Harvard University if they thought illegal immigration was a “serious” issue, 64% of voters said it was. Another 67% said President Joe Biden’s executive orders have encouraged illegal immigration, and 63% said Biden’s policies have “in effect opened” the southern border.
THE BIDEN BORDER CRISIS EXPLAINED
Turning to what should be done to solve the border crisis, 68% of voters said that “people who cross the border with Mexico illegally should be turned back to Mexico,” while just 32% said they should be “released into the U.S. with a court date,” which is current Biden policy.
Before COVID enabled the use of Title 42 at the southern border, it was former President Donald Trump’s policy to turn immigrants who crossed illegally back to Mexico. This “Remain in Mexico” program solved the 2019 border crisis.
The Harvard poll also showed that, if anything, voters are underestimating the size of Biden’s border crisis. When asked, “How many border crossings by illegal immigrants do you think are occurring each year?” just 6% correctly said between 2 million-3 million. A full 87% of voters underestimated how many immigrants have been arrested illegally crossing the southern border, including 75% who said the number was less than 1 million.
Informed that the correct number of illegal immigrants crossing the border this year was 2.75 million, 67% of voters wanted “stricter policies to reduce the flow of people coming across the border” instead of continuing “current policies.”
There was some evidence that Biden was considering adopting the stricter immigration enforcement policies people want before the midterm elections, but with the Democrats outperforming expectations and keeping the Senate, it is now clear that Biden has no intention of changing his immigration policies. If anything, the proposals Biden has put forward would only make the crisis worse by processing illegal immigrants into the country faster.
The only way voters can get the border security they want is to vote Biden out of office in 2024. A vote for Biden is a vote to continue Biden’s “opened” southern border.
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