J.Biden’s latest move on immigration has a whiff of desperation. It’s no secret that Biden is struggling with some core Democratic constituencies, and by taking executive action to restrict asylum seekers, the Biden campaign could target wayward Republicans, centrists, and older voters who tend to prioritize immigration.
It’s unclear how effective these efforts will be, but addressing the immigration issue could help another group of voters the campaign is struggling to reach: young voters.
Even if you’re not convinced by the polls that show the race effectively tied between Biden and Trump, there’s little doubt that Biden is worse off today than he was in 2020. In a new survey conducted at the Survey Center on American Life, which includes a robust sample of more than 600 young voters, we found that Biden has only a modest lead among young voters, well below his 2020 vote share.
The Biden-Harris campaign sought to bolster support among young voters by emphasizing climate change, student loan forgiveness and abortion rights. But what if the campaign addressed the issue of immigration more directly, in an effort to appeal to young voters?
It’s not as crazy as it seems.
Polls consistently show that older voters tend to prioritize the issue of immigration more than younger voters, but in fact, it is an issue that remains important to many young people today. Harvard 2024 Youth Research considers immigration to be solidly in the middle of the pack, almost as important as education and reproductive rights. Young adults are also much more likely to have a close personal connection with someone who is an immigrant. The Harvard survey also concluded: “A solid majority (60%) of young Americans have had classmates who were immigrants, 46% have friends who are immigrants, 41% have had immigrant coworkers, and 40% have immigrant neighbors.” As a result, the issue of deportation is more relevant among young people today than in recent years. February 2022 Bench study found that young Hispanics are much more worried about the deportation of a close friend or family member than those who are older.
See more information: Welcome to the immigration elections
One advantage of the campaign on this issue is that as more young people learn about immigration patterns in the US, they become more supportive of increasing immigration levels. On a interesting experiment In 2022, YouGov asked respondents whether immigration to the US should be increased, decreased, or left as is. He then asked another group the same question, but provided them with information about how many immigrants are currently coming to the US. The statement provided by YouGov said: “On average, about 1 million people each year obtain legal permanent status to live in the US.” After reading the statement, young adults became more supportive of legal immigration, increasing from 32% to 46%. For seniors, it had the opposite effect – decreasing support for legal immigration – although the impact was more modest, falling from 22% to 17%.
Another reason the Biden campaign talks about immigration is that it allows it to highlight Trump’s many controversial remarks about immigrants — comments that most young voters find objectionable. The Democrat-aligned research firm Blueprint found All of this young voters are unfamiliar with Trump’s inflammatory statements about immigrants, but when presented with them, most found them offensive. Only 37% of young voters said they were aware that Trump had said that Haitian immigrants in the US “all have AIDS”, or that Nigerian immigrants should “go back to their cabins”, but 59% report being bothered by these comments . Some of Trump’s most intemperate rhetoric has been on the issue of immigration. Highlighting Trump’s divisive and racist rhetoric, such as his claim that immigrants are “poisoning the blood of our country,” could convince young voters to leave the sidelines.
An old campaign tactic is to turn your opponent’s strength into a weakness. Trump has had a huge advantage over Biden in who can be trusted to deal with the immigration issue – the main advantage is his willingness to be aggressive on immigration. But his advantage is not necessarily rooted in popular support for his political agenda. Trump’s family separation policy was immensely unpopular, generating an avalanche of negative news coverage. His efforts to revoke the legal status of young people brought to the U.S. as children, so-called “Dreamers,” was another policy that failed to gain much support. One 2022 Bank poll found that even a majority (54%) of Republicans supported granting legal status to Dreamers.
While illegal immigration is a growing concern among voters, few believe Biden is willing or able to address it. But Biden has arguments to demonstrate that Trump is more interested in keeping the chaos on the border rather than solving the problem. Trump was instrumental in mobilizing Republican senators to block a bipartisan border security bill that he argued was not “perfect.”
Biden’s campaign appears intent on going all-in on abortion in 2024. At this stage of the campaign, more than a room of democratic campaign television ads mention abortion. This may reassure young women, but it may not influence young men who are much less concerned about reproductive health issues. In fact, the Harvard poll reveals that young people care much more about immigration than they do about abortion. Finding an issue to engage apathetic young people will be extremely important for the Biden campaign. A new vote by the Survey Center on American Life shows that Biden and Trump are effectively tied among young male voters, although Biden maintains a 20-point lead among young women.
Even if young voters don’t pay particular attention to immigration six months before the election, pluralism is a defining value of this generation. Young adults strongly believe that racial and ethnic diversity is an advantage for the United States. A Poll 2023 found that more than two-thirds (68&) of young adults agree with the notion that the US is made up of many cultures and values that change as new people arrive.
Immigration is a fundamental American value and a single candidate can effectively embrace it. Biden would be foolish if he didn’t.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
