In a political realignment that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago, immigrants to the United States are now siding with Republicans over Democrats on the issue of immigration.
A seismic 49-point swing reflects a growing backlash to progressive border policies.
The fist was revealed in data from the American National Election Studies (ANES).
ANES is widely considered the gold standard of election surveys.
According to the data, voters born outside the U.S. supported Democrats over Republicans on immigration by a massive 58%-24% margin in 2020.
But in the 2024 election cycle, that gap flipped dramatically, with 45% of immigrant voters saying the GOP would better handle immigration, compared to just 30% who favored Democrats.
This reversal represents one of the largest issue-based voter shifts in modern political history.
However, it’s not coming from the traditional Republican base, but from the very group the Left claims to represent: immigrants themselves.
Responding to the data, Daron Shaw, a professor at the University of Texas and a Fox News Decision Team member, said:
“It’s reflective of the fact that immigrant voters started so pro-Democrat.
“There’s more room for them to shift.”
Shaw noted that before President Donald Trump entered the political arena, immigration and border security were viewed as largely separate issues.
But under Trump’s leadership, the two have become inseparable, and that framing has worked to Republicans’ advantage.
“You’re seeing a movement toward the Republican Party on immigration because it’s been largely focused on border security,” Shaw said.
“That’s true with non-immigrant populations as well as immigrant populations.”
Indeed, Trump’s hardline stance on illegal immigration, reinforced by a nationwide ICE crackdown and recent deployment of National Guard troops and Marines to curb riots in Los Angeles, has made immigration the defining issue of his second term.
And voters have responded.
Republicans won back the presidency, the Senate, and held the House in the 2024 election.
The GOP has been riding a wave of support from groups that were once considered Democrat strongholds, including Hispanics, black voters, and now, legal immigrants.
The findings obliterate the decades-long Democrat narrative that open-border policies are the humane and politically effective path forward.
Instead, they suggest that legal immigrants, those who played by the rules, are fed up with chaotic border policies, lax enforcement, and rising crime tied to illegal immigration.
As cities like Los Angeles remain gripped by violent riots following Trump-authorized immigration raids, it’s no longer just conservative Americans who are demanding law and order.
Immigrants are now also leading that charge.
And Democrats, once confident they had a monopoly on immigrant support, are now watching that coalition crumble, one policy failure at a time.
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