Originally posted by the Center for Immigration Studies by Andrew R. Arthur on October 18, 2024

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The Harvard Center for American Political Studies, the Harris Poll, and Harris X just released their latest poll, and it shows that immigration is the second-leading issue for American voters heading into the 2024 presidential election. It also reveals that the electorate is not sold on border promises by current Vice President (and Democratic presidential nominee) Kamala Harris.

The poll was conducted between October 11 and 13, and involved 3,145 registered voters who were surveyed online by the Harris Poll and Harris X. The margin of error is +/- 1.8 percent.

Biden Approval Rating

It’s easy to forget there’s a current occupant of the Oval Office, President Joe Biden, and respondents were asked whether they approved or disapproved of his performance in 12 different issue areas, ranging from “racial equity” to the “Israel-Hamas conflict”.

Biden received his highest marks on racial equity, with 49 percent of the voters polled approving of Biden’s handling of the topic. His lowest score was on the Israel-Hamas conflict, an area in which just 35 percent approved of Biden’s performance.

Biden’s second-weakest issue? Immigration, with just 36 percent of registered voters approving of Biden’s handling of aliens and border issues.

Most Important Issues – and Issue

Respondents were then offered 28 different issues (plus one catchall “other”) and asked, “What would you say are the most important issues facing the country today?”

“Price increases/inflation” led the pack, with 39 percent of registered voters placing it on their list of most important. That’s actually a 3-point decline for inflation as a critical issue confronting the United States compared to polling a month before.

Immigration, again, came in a close second, the choice of 35 percent of respondents and holding steady compared to that earlier polling.

Not surprisingly, there was a partisan split with respect to immigration: just 16 percent of Democratic voters put it on their list of top issues, compared to 36 percent of Independents and a whopping 53 percent of GOP adherents. In other words, absent weak Democratic concerns about immigration, it easily could have surpassed inflation.

Immigration actually was the top issue for Republican respondents, outpacing inflation by 9 points (price increases were a top issue for 44 percent of GOP voters).

Separately, respondents were given a list of nine different issues and asked which was most important to them personally.

Once more, inflation led the way, the key personal issue for 46 percent of those polled (including 52 percent of Republicans and 47 percent of Independents, but just 39 percent of Democrats).

The second most important issue to voters personally was, at noted at the outset, immigration.

It was the choice of 14 percent of registered voters Harris polled, including 13 percent of Independents and a quarter – 25 percent – of Republicans.

By contrast, only 5 percent of Democrats said that immigration was the issue that mattered to them the most personally. In fact, aside from the Israel-Hamas conflict (3 percent) and parental rights in schools (1 percent), no single issue was less important to Democratic voters than immigration.

Which Candidate Would Do a Better Job?

Harris next offered respondents a list of 19 different issues and asked them whether Harris or Trump would do a better job handling each.

Harris was rated best at handling seven of those issues, led by abortion (an 18-point margin), healthcare (by 13 points), climate change (Harris +15), and racial equality (14 points in the vice president’s favor).

Interestingly, Harris is also favored over Trump by 7 points (50 percent to 43 percent) when it comes to “helping the working class” and by 8 points when it comes to “helping small businesses”.

Trump’s led on the rest, and his biggest edge issues are strengthening the military (Trump +13), standing up to China (Trump +13) – and immigration (Trump over Harris by 12 points). Notably, Trump is favored to handle immigration over Harris by a 17-point margin by Independents.

Read more at Center for Immigration Studies