The 2024 election should have been a wake-up call to Democrats that they have to get tough on illegal immigration. However, it doesn’t appear that they received the message, and they will likely pay a huge price for that because they’ve undoubtedly lost the messaging war on illegal immigration.
Let me explain. Back in 2021, Joe Biden essentially rolled out the red carpet for illegal immigrants, sparking a record-breaking surge that overwhelmed cities across the nation. These communities, unprepared for the massive influx, faced chaos as their strained infrastructure buckled under the pressure. To make matters worse, the surge brought an uptick in crime, which added to the already dire situation.
The crisis spiraled so badly that Biden and Kamala Harris eventually tried to rebrand themselves as tough on immigration, a transparent attempt to fool voters into believing they were serious about border security ahead of the 2024 election.
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Because of their failure, American attitudes toward illegal immigration have changed, and they are no longer buying the Democrats’ rhetoric that Trump’s immigration policies are racist.
On Wednesday, CNN’s chief data analyst Harry Enten revealed this seismic shift in public opinion over the last decade. As Enten put it, the polling data is “about as blunt as you can get,” and it’s not good news for the pro-illegal immigration left.
Enten broke down multiple polls asking whether all immigrants in the U.S. illegally should be deported. Across four major surveys, the results were remarkably consistent. The New York Times reported 55% in favor, Marquette found 64%, CBS News had 57%, and ABC News — with a slightly different phrasing — landed at 56%. “There’s no arguing with these different numbers because they’re all essentially the same across four different pollsters,” Enten noted.
These numbers reflect a significant cultural shift. Back in 2015, only 42% supported deporting all illegal immigrants, and by 2016, that figure had dropped to 36% — no doubt because of the media’s messaging that Trump’s immigration policies were racist. Fast forward to now, and we’re looking at a 20-point surge in support for stricter immigration enforcement since Trump first entered office. Enten emphasized the implications of this shift: “Feelings towards immigration in this country... have become considerably more hawkish.”
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This shift isn’t just about illegal immigration. Enten highlighted how Americans’ views on overall immigration levels — both legal and illegal — have also become more restrictive. According to the data, 55% now want to see immigration levels reduced, the highest figure since the immediate aftermath of 9/11. In 2020, that number was just 41%. “That’s a 14-point rise from 2023 and a 17-point rise since 2016,” Enten said, underlining how public sentiment has hardened.
For Democrats, these numbers are a disaster. The party has spent years pushing narratives about the supposed benefits of open borders and lax enforcement and ignoring the concerns of average Americans. Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s straightforward, often blunt rhetoric on the issue resonates more than ever, thanks to Biden’s disastrous open borders policies. Enten summed it up: “I think the American people are going to give Donald Trump the benefit of the doubt to do what he wants to do.”
There has been a massive shift to the right over the last decade on immigration views.
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) January 22, 2025
When asked whether all immigrants here illegally (or "undocumented immigrants" in some polls) should be deported, the majority now say yes in all polls.
Gives Trump a lot of leeway. pic.twitter.com/dhJid3rVci
The left can’t spin its way out of these numbers. Americans want action, not platitudes, and they’re increasingly looking to Republicans to deliver.
