In the survey of South Carolina Republican primary voters conducted by Edison Research, 37% of voters claimed that immigration was the most important issue, followed by 33% who listed the economy as the most pressing concern.
Comparable results were uncovered in exit polls conducted in GOP presidential nomination contests in New Hampshire and Iowa. In both of those states, approximately 40% of respondents listed immigration was the top concern, followed by the economy and jobs.
In South Carolina, Iowa and New Hampshire, only a small percentage of voters viewed any other issue, such as abortion and foreign policy, as the most important problem facing the nation.
Usually, during presidential election campaigns, voters cite the economy as their top issue. Flagging economies often lead to political change. In 1980, incumbent President Jimmy Carter was defeated in a landslide by GOP challenger Ronald Reagan mostly due to the horrific economy.
In 1992, the famous slogan of the Bill Clinton for President campaign was, “It’s the economy, stupid.” Only one year after President George H. W. Bush successfully assembled the military coalition that won the first gulf war, Clinton handily defeated him. It happened because of the nation’s poor economy.
The 2008 financial crisis contributed to the defeat of the Republican Party’s presidential candidate, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) in that election. He was burdened by the economic baggage left by incumbent GOP President George W. Bush. McCain was easily defeated by the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, Barack Obama.
Once again, in this election year, the economy is extremely poor. The nation is suffering from high interest rates, persistent inflation, falling real wages and a skyrocketing national debt. Voters are properly worried about their financial future and, for millions of people, realizing the American dream is impossible.
With these financial concerns, the lousy economy should be the paramount issue for Americans. People almost always “vote their pocketbook,” and that should be especially true this year.
Instead, while the bad economy is of concern to voters, the open southern border, and the massive influx of undocumented migrants, has compelled Americans to rank immigration as the most important problem confronting the nation.
In most presidential elections, immigration is not a top concern for voters. However, the perception changed during the 2016 election as GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump focused heavily on “building the wall” and the problems of unchecked illegal immigration.
As President, Trump ended the “Catch and Release” policy for individuals apprehended after illegally crossing the border. He instituted the “Remain in Mexico” which prevented individuals seeking asylum from crossing the border until their US immigration court date.
Trump also constructed hundreds of miles of border wall, both in new areas and in sections that needed repair. As a result, during his 2020 re-election campaign, immigration was no longer a major concern for voters. Trump had made tremendous strides in fixing the problem.
Unfortunately, the progress made by Trump was undone by President Joe Biden. He issued executive orders dismantling Trump’s policies, stopped construction of the border wall, and encouraged undocumented migrants worldwide to cross our border.
Due to Biden’s negligence, over 10.2 million noncitizen immigrants have entered the country since his inauguration. This includes individuals apprehended illegally crossing the border, those entering through official ports of entry and the estimated 1.7 million border crossers who avoided detection.
These numbers are astounding and are greater than the population of 41 states. Not surprisingly, Americans are rightly concerned that millions of people flooding into the country will lead to a host of problems, including the spread of new diseases and the impact on the country’s fragile healthcare system.
Also, the open border allows for the entry of drug cartel members and the distribution of illegal substances, such as cocaine and heroin mixed with fentanyl. In 2022, a disturbing new record was reached as 109.690 Americans died of drug overdoses. Of those deaths, approximately 70% were caused by fentanyl or other synthetic opioids.
Another serious consequence of unchecked illegal immigration involves our economy. These millions of new workers are undercutting wages, taking jobs away from Americans, while sending $28.8 billion annually to relatives in their home country.
The children of illegal immigrants, who usually do not understand English, are allowed into public schools at taxpayer expense. These students will be provided with translators and will strain already limited resources at public schools, which are struggling in most urban areas.
According to Democratic Party Mayors in major American cities such as New York and Chicago, the answer to this problem is to provide a bounty of resources for newly arriving “guests,” including free housing, food and debit cards filled with cash.
In recent weeks, there have been several migrant attacks against police officers in New York City. In January, a group of violent migrants were released from jail without bail.
Finally, Americans are starting to complain about these policies. At last week’s town hall meeting, U.S. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was greeted by a heckler who yelled, “secure the border now” and “all you care about is illegal aliens and their votes. You don’t care about your constituents.”
As President Trump has been noting in recent speeches, “migrant crime” has been on the increase. It occurred again last week in Athens, Georgia.
A 22-year-old nursing student, Laken Hope Riley, left her house for a jog and never returned. She was allegedly killed by Jose Antonio Ibarra, an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela, who entered the country in 2022, while the Biden administration’s “Catch and Release” policy was in effect.
In 2023, Ibarra was arrested in Queens, New York for “injuring a child under the age of 17.” Instead of being deported, he was released. Five months later, he was charged in the death of Ms. Riley.
Americans are becoming infuriated at the damage that is being willfully done to our country. This righteous anger needs to be directed toward the ballot box to fire Joe Biden, the worst President in American history.
Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian and his award-winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs Saturdays from Noon until 1 p.m. CT nationally on Real America’s Voice TV Network & AmericasVoice.News and weekdays from 7-11 a.m. CT on WGSO 990-AM & Wgso.com. He is a political columnist, the author of America’s Last Chance and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and on Crouere.net. For more information, email him at jcrouere@gmail.com
