President Biden’s executive action signed Tuesday, dramatically restricting access to asylum for migrants at the border, shows just how vexing immigration is for his campaign, even among Latino voters who have generally sided with his party on the issue.
Voters, who once chastised the administration for continuing a pandemic ban on border crossings, are frustrated over the high number of migrant arrivals in recent years. At the same time, many blame Biden for a failure to deliver on promises for immigration reform for long-settled immigrants without legal status, despite years of blockades to legalization by Republicans in Congress.
In a presidential race with razor-thin margins, any erosion of Latino support in such a heavily Latino battleground state could be consequential.
A shrinking advantage?
As has historically been the case, immigration is not the top voting issue for Latinos in this election. But many Latino voters have used immigration as a litmus test, judging those to be anti-immigrant to also be anti-Latino, said Carlos Odio, a co-founder of Equis Research, a Democrat-leaning Latino polling and research company.
“That has changed somewhat in the last few years. The Democrats no longer have the advantage they used to,” he said. There are perceptions that Democrats have broken campaign promises to provide pathways to legal status for immigrants, and that Republicans aren’t going to go as far as they say they will with immigration crackdowns, Odio said.
Recent polls have shown a rise in Latinos agreeing with GOP calls for more border control, as well as increases in the percentage of Latinos who say Republicans and presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump could do a better job controlling the border.
Biden says he’s restricting migrants seeking asylum to help ‘gain control’ of the border
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