The Associated Press NORC Center for Public Affairs Research has just released a survey on immigration that could eventually lead to a rethinking of this red-hot issue or at least a process of cooling it down.
I’ve listed some of its findings and what I believe they could lead to.
The survey has a number of sections.
1. Fewer adults believe immigration should be reduced now compared with January 2025.
2. Legal immigration contributes to economic growth.
3. Slightly fewer see major risks from immigrants coming to the US legally compared to 2024.
4. Partisans are split on whether Trump’s deportation efforts have gone too far.
5. Four in ten see major economic benefits from legal immigration
6. Views on the risks of illegal immigration have remained about the same.
7. Partisans are divided on immigration priorities: Republicans focus on border security; Democrats on legal pathways and refugees compared with January 2025.
Here’s what I conclude from this valuable study.
This remains the major issue. Here’s an analogy that I heard recently from a Border Patrol agent. Suppose someone comes to your home, rings the doorbell and asks if they can come in. It’s your choice. Suppose, however, that you hear someone in your yard trying to get in your back door. You’re not going to permit that.
Isn’t the same true of our border?
The reality is that the Biden administration made major progress in tightening border controls by mid-2024 but it was too late. Candidate Trump won the PR battle. And Kamala Harris did little to counter him in her 107 days as a candidate.
Nonetheless, this survey indicates that it is now more clear to the general public that the border is under control. If anything, it is over controlled with talk about painting the wall black, building an enormously expensive wall over Monte Cristo Rey west of El Paso, and the ongoing deployment of Stryker vehicles. But if that’s what it takes to reassure the general public it may be worth it.
An increasing number of Americans are recognizing the benefits of immigration. We need workers in areas like agriculture, construction, home care and hospitality where there are jobs Americans don’t want and won’t take. We also need workers in those high-tech areas where Americans are not available.
This is the difficult, maybe impossible question. Most European countries were too “open” to immigrants, and it led to political shifts to the right. The same is true of the US. Too many people crossing during Biden’s early years led to the harshness of today’s situation. I quote the journalist, Thomas Friedman from an article he wrote for the New York Times on April 14, 2021.
“I wish we could take in everyone suffering in the world and give each a shot at the American dream, but we can’t while maintaining our social cohesion, which is already fraying badly enough. So, making immigration policy today requires a tough-minded balance between hardheartedness and compassion.” He added, “Because so many Americans will think that the border is open and out of control that they will elect leaders who will choke off all immigration, which is the lifeblood of our country. Have no doubt, a seemingly put-of-control border would be a godsend for the Trump GOP.”
The Biden administration should have been paying attention to this message.
Unfortunately, the survey doesn’t cover the very complicated issue of asylum, but Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau has just been at the UN in New York City lobbying a number of countries on the need to impose new restrictions on asylum claims. He stated, “If you have hundreds of thousands of fake asylum-seekers, then what happens to the real asylum system?” Can this be true in the US where asylum seekers have had to undergo an initial screening before they were allowed in the country to await a final judicial determination? And what exactly would he and the Trump administration proposal as an alternative?
In the meantime, we continue to take food and supplies to the Respettrans migrant shelter in the center of Juárez, one of the few shelters still open, although with a much reduced number of migrants.
On August 8, we met again with Ana Yeli Correa and her family from Michoacán, Mexico. They have been there for over a year awaiting an appointment for an asylum hearing. On September 4, we met with Luis and Marisol from Venezuela and their four children. They too have been waiting for over a year. Is this fair? Does it make sense to treat those who follow the law the same and those who violate it.
The mood of the American people is changing. It’s a combination of believing that the border is under control, an increased understanding of the values of immigration, and a growing revulsion of the excessively harsh tactics of ICE here in the US.
Will this lead to a change in policy? Let’s hope.
Editor’s Note: The above guest column was penned by writer and humanitarian Morgan Smith, who has been traveling to the border at least monthly for many years to document conditions there. He can be reached at Morgan-smith@comcast.net.
