Politics

Where Do American Voters Stand on Immigration Policies?

Published

2 months ago

October 17, 2024

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Where Do American Voters Stand on Immigration Policies?

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Given the historic influx of migrants in recent years, immigration stands as a central issue in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

For decades, U.S. presidents have proposed broad immigration reform, but each has failed to receive support in Congress. In fact, the last comprehensive immigration bill was passed four decades ago under President Reagan. Comprehensive immigration reform addresses border security, the status of undocumented immigrants, enforcement, and labor demand.

This graphic shows how Americans view immigration policies in 2024, based on surveys from the Pew Research Center.

Harris and Trump Supporters are Mostly Divided on Immigration

Below, we show the share of registered U.S. voters that are strongly in favor or somewhat in favor of each immigration policy, based on a survey conducted August 5-11, 2024:

Immigration Policy	Trump Supporters	Harris Supporters	All Registered Voters
Mass deportations of immigrants living in the country illegally	88%	27%	56%
Admitting immigrants from all over the world to ensure a diverse immigrant population	29%	72%	51%
Allowing undocumented immigrants to stay legally in the country if they are married to a U.S. citizen	37%	80%	58%
Admitting more civilian refugees	49%	85%	67%
Admitting immigrants who can fill labor shortages	55%	86%	70%
Allowing international students who receive a U.S. college degree to stay in the country	63%	89%	77%
Improving security along the country’s borders	96%	80%	88%
Admitting more high-skilled immigrants	71%	87%	79%

Currently, 88% of Trump supporters agree with mass deportations of unauthorized immigrants compared to just 27% of Harris supporters.

While Trump has vowed to make mass deportations a part of his platform, it could face legal challenges. Among the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in America, nearly 80% have resided in the country for more than 10 years.

Going further, undocumented immigrants have a right to due process, adding further pressure on the backlogged immigration court system.

When it comes to admitting immigrants to address labor shortages, roughly one in two Republicans agree with this policy compared to 89% of Democrats. In 2023, the immigrant population comprised 18.6% of the U.S. labor force, with the highest share in services, transportation, and construction and natural resources industries.

Both parties, however, find common ground on enhancing border security and admitting more high-skilled immigrants. In fact, 88% of all voters support enhancing border security, while 79% of all voters support admitting high-skilled immigrants.