A newly released survey highlights the widespread dissatisfaction among Americans regarding the Democratic Party’s handling of immigration.
According to a poll published Thursday by Way to Win and Impact Research, only 19% of likely voters in swing districts approve of Democrats’ performance on immigration. In contrast, 77% disapprove, resulting in a 58-point net negative rating for the party on the issue.
Way to Win and Impact Research—both Democratic-aligned firms—conducted the survey to assist the party in crafting more effective messaging to reduce the GOP’s lead on immigration, according to POLITICO, which first reported the findings.
While Republicans also face negative ratings on the issue, their numbers are considerably better by comparison. The survey shows the GOP with an 11-point net negative rating, with 43% of respondents approving and 54% disapproving of their approach to immigration.
“Democrat support is at rock bottom, and they need to rebuild their trust on this issue,” the authors of the poll concluded. “[President Donald Trump’s] overall job rating is negative by a 5-point margin in districts he collectively won by two points, but voters are slightly more favorable on how he’s handled immigration and the policies he and Republicans have enacted.”
“And while Republicans in Congress are underwater by double digits on immigration, they are still in significantly better shape here than Democrats in Congress, whose popularity and trust on immigration are worse by wide margins,” the authors claimed, though Trump is much higher in other, more reliable polling and Republicans’ immigration stance largely aligns with the president.
The survey follows President Joe Biden’s tenure during what many have described as the worst immigration crisis in U.S. history, as well as former President Donald Trump’s renewed push to close the border and implement large-scale deportations.
Illegal immigration surged under the Biden administration, with fiscal years 2023 and 2024 marking the highest numbers of total migrant encounters, according to Customs and Border Protection data. Department of Homeland Security figures show that the average number of monthly border encounters during Biden’s term approached 160,000, with daily encounters peaking at 15,000.