A seismic shift in opinion is occurring among the electorate with just months until Election Day. While issues fluctuate in prominence from election cycle to cycle, pollsters are observing a sustained hardening of views among voters on two prominent 2024 election topics: illegal immigration and crime.
Today, this means support for mass deportations of illegal immigrants, and when asked about the country’s criminal justice system, voters say it now encourages crime rather than deters it. The quick evolution of these issues is proof of an embrace of a more populist approach and reflects the broader political reorientation occurring among the major political parties.
It is estimated that 3.2 million people, about the population of Arkansas, illegally crossed the U.S. border in 2023. Just five years prior, under President Donald Trump, that number was approximately 1.1 million. At the time, nearly 6 in 10 people opposed the idea of deporting illegal immigrants, as did many Republicans in competitive races for fear of being labeled as political extremists.
Of the three methods of how to deal with illegal entrants in the United States, the preferred option was to enact reforms to provide an eventual path to citizenship and allow them to stay. This was chosen over allowing them to stay with no option of citizenship or requiring them to leave the country.
Today is a completely different story…
Read the full op-ed by Cygnal VP of Polling Brock McCleary in the Washington Examiner: 2016 Trump looks prophetic on the topics driving 2024’s election – Washington Examiner