19 OCT 2021

New Poll: Battleground Voters Strongly Support Democratic Proposals for Undocumented Immigrants, Delivering Solution Crucial to Energizing Unmotivated Democrats in 2022

2022 Opportunity: Delivering Citizenship or Lasting Protections for Undocumented Immigrants Can Energize Unmotivated Democratic Voters and Improve Biden and Democrats’ Standing on Immigration

Washington, DC — In anticipation of Democratic Senators’ meeting with the Senate Parliamentarian on the next immigration proposal for the reconciliation package, the Immigration Hub is releasing the results of a new battleground poll, conducted by Global Strategy Group. Surveying voters in eight battleground states, the poll found that voters, across the political spectrum, strongly support Democratic proposals that offer a path to citizenship or another form of protection, including an immigration permit program that would offer nearly 8 million undocumented immigrants the ability to remain in the U.S. and work lawfully without the fear of deportation.

“Despite the Republican noise and dog whistles around immigration and the border, voters again and again continue to support fixing our immigration system by centering protections for undocumented immigrants and humane solutions to manage our border and migration,” stated Sergio Gonzales, Executive Director of the Immigration Hub. “There’s a clear opportunity through reconciliation for Democrats to win the debate on immigration, gain votes and fulfill the promise they made to immigrant families long ago. There’s a powerful electorate of people of color and multi-generations that held their end of the bargain last year, and now Democrats have the chance to secure future victories by finally delivering on one of the most critical issues of our time. This is it, and the moment is here.”

Despite the tough immigration environment centered around the border, the majority of voters surveyed in 2022 Senate battleground states want Congress and the Biden administration to deliver a solution for America’s undocumented population. In fact, according to the results, ensuring a pathway to citizenship or lasting protections for undocumented immigrants can energize unmotivated Democratic voters for the midterms. Four in five of those Democrats who feel less motivated to vote in the 2022 election say that passing a legalization proposal is urgent.

71% of voters surveyed support a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. if certain requirements are met over deporting them, including 88% of Democrats, 75% of independents, and 53% of Republicans. Support extends to other immigration proposals, such as a work permit program (58%) that would authorize undocumented immigrants to stay and work in the country lawfully.
Two in three battleground voters say they would be “upset” if these immigration citizenship proposals do not pass (66%), including 90% of Democrats and 75% of independents, and nearly half say they would be less likely to vote for their senator if they learned they had voted against these bills (48%).
In looking at unmotivated Democrats – self-identified Democrats in these battleground states who say they are feeling less motivated to vote in the 2022 election (13% of respondents in this survey) – four in five (80%) say passing these permanent protection bills is urgent.
Nearly nine in ten unmotivated Democrats (86%) say they will be upset if these citizenship proposals do not pass, and another 60% say they would be less likely to vote for their senator if they learned they had voted against these bills (60%).

The findings also reiterate the opportunity the party has to shift voters’ approval ratings of President Biden and Democrats on immigration. By communicating and delivering on border solutions while illustrating how Republicans are blocking progress and policies to address the border, Democrats can improve their standing with battleground voters.

By a 54%-46% margin, battleground voters prefer building “a functioning immigration system that processes people in a fair, orderly, and humane way” over an enforcement-only approach that relies on “more border security, more border patrol agents, and crackdowns on illegal immigration.”
By a 56%-44% margin, battleground voters would prefer America be “a world leader in helping refugees, including accepting some to live here” over America focusing on itself and taking in fewer refugees.
By a 25-point margin (47% to 22%), voters believe Republicans are blocking Biden from taking action on immigration instead of working with him. But by a 33-point margin (61%-28%), voters want Republicans to work with Biden on bipartisan solutions to fix our country’s immigration system.

Read the full findings.

About the survey: Global Strategy Group conducted an online survey of 1,200 2022 battleground Senate voters between September 17-26, 2021 in AZ, FL, GA, NC, NV, NH, PA, and WI. The survey had a confidence interval of +/- 2.8%. All interviews were conducted via web-based panel. Care has been taken to ensure the geographic and demographic divisions of the population of the electorate are properly represented.

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The Immigration Hub is a national organization dedicated to advancing fair and just immigration policies through strategic leadership, innovative communications strategies, legislative advocacy and collaborative partnerships.