PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release
Contact: Dan Gordon, 617-651-0841
Feb. 29, 2024

New Surveys on Border, Immigration: Americans Want Cooperation and Solutions

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump travel to the U.S.-Mexico border today, two surveys released this week reinforce the broad support among Americans for a combination of immigration and border solutions this year.

In a Bullfinch Group and National Immigration Forum survey of 1,200 adults, including 1,000 registered voters, 55% of the registered voters responded that they would prefer "Republicans and Democrats work together and compromise with each other to reform immigration," rather than have one party or the other "stand their ground" and not compromise.

A second question found a 35-point spread among registered voters (58%-23%) in support vs. opposition to the following statement: "Language that dehumanizes migrants at U.S. borders contradicts our values and harms efforts by Republicans and Democrats to work together on commonsense solutions." The rest said they were unsure. Percentages were nearly identical among all adults.

Full crosstabs on the above questions are available for registered voters and all adults.

In a separate survey Lifeway Research released Wednesday, 77% of U.S. evangelicals said they support Congress acting on immigration legislation this year, and 80% would support "Republicans and Democrats working together on a combination of immigration reforms that strengthens border security, creates a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children, and provides a reliable number of screened, legal farmworkers." Find Lifeway’s full data here.

"Americans are beyond ready for Democrats and Republicans to work together on solutions that reaffirm our security, compassion, and moral leadership in the world," said Jennie Murray, President and CEO of the National Immigration Forum. "Elected leaders and candidates must sow seeds of unity rather than division. Voters want leaders to enact solutions, not play politics."

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The National Immigration Forum, in conjunction with The Bullfinch Group, conducted a nationwide online survey fielded Feb. 17-22, 2024, among 1,200 adults, of whom 1,000 respondents were registered voters. Sampling controls were used to ensure that a proportional and representative number of respondents were interviewed from demographic groups such as age, gender, political affiliation, race, and geographic region. The margin of error for registered voters is ±3.1% at the 95% confidence interval. The margin of error for adults is ± 2.83% at the 95% confidence interval.