The crisis at our southern border has grabbed the attention of the American people, who have seen or heard story after story about the millions of illegal immigrants pouring into our country and being scattered throughout, including to our largest cities. The American people now consider immigration our country’s most important issue for the first time since 2019, according to a Gallup poll released last month. Another poll released last month by Monmouth University found that 53% of respondents favor building a border wall, up from 35% in September 2017.
Former President Trump has described what’s happening as “Biden’s border invasion,” and President Biden has seen his poll numbers decline as the problem intensifies. Both men visited the border on February 29 to highlight their views on the issue.
In this context, and within the past five weeks, we conducted focus groups with 27 Trump-to-Biden swing voters—14 Michiganders on February 13, and 13 Wisconsinites on March 12. Overall, 24 told us they’re concerned about the situation at our southern border, with 11 calling it their top issue.
What’s staggering is the breadth and depth of worry they feel about this crisis.
“All these people are coming in. What are we doing with them? Where are they going?,” asked Kat, 47, from Dearborn, Michigan. “We’re shipping them north. They’re getting lost. We don’t know anything about them. We’re feeding them, giving them money, giving them clothing, giving them everything. It’s a leech on our economy, a leech on our country. There’s nothing positive coming out of it.”
“[Illegal immigrants] all think they can walk across Mexico and just walk into this country,” explained Adele, 58, from Clair Shores, Michigan. “Most other countries you’d get shot at the border. They put them on a bus and ship them everywhere else. [Governments] do not have resources to take care of a bunch of people that don’t belong here and then they complain that [the accommodations we provide are] not good enough for them.”
“You have millions now, literally millions of illegal immigrants that are here that will never ever go to court, so you’re going to have illegal immigrants without identification. It’s so much easier for them to commit crimes. They can get government help. They can get money. All that kind of stuff should be for American citizens, not illegals that are in this country, whether it be healthcare, money from the government, all of that. If you want that, then you should come to this country legally like it used to be where you come in, you go through a process, and you become an American citizen,” lamented Jerome, 54, from Clinton Township, Michigan.
“I’m worried about disease,” remarked Debbie, 65 from Redford Township, Michigan. “They’re not inoculating these people. Just today, I heard bubonic plague is back in the United States. Somebody had a case of it. Where did that come from? Who knows what they’re bringing over here? I believe in letting people over here. They have to go somewhere, but they’re just letting in hordes of people. We don’t know who they are, what they did when they were in the other country. They could have been thieves or murderers. We don’t know. That’s concerning.”
Jamie, 38, from Green Bay, Wisconsin, echoed this sentiment, explaining, “[I’m concerned about] the new health problems that are arising, old viruses coming back from I’m guessing them not being vaccinated the same way we were.”
Julie, 53, from Shorewood, Wisconsin, added, “[I’m concerned about] the drugs coming across the border.”
“It’s concerning to me that they have laws in place—that they pick and choose when they’re going to enforce [the laws]. It’s not the laws themselves. It’s that they are not consistently enforced,” added Yvette, 56, from Pontiac, Michigan.
Respondents also described how the situation at our southern border is affecting their day-to-day lives. Some believe illegal immigrants who came into the U.S. from our southern border are living in their neighborhoods. Also, they’re very upset that their tax dollars are going to people who don’t “deserve” them.
“I’ve noticed a lot more people begging on corners, and a lot of them are holding up signs…I feel for these people, but it’s getting kind of scary,” remarked Debbie, 65, from Redford Township, Michigan. “You don’t know who’s begging at your windows of your car. I feel uncomfortable. Over by Meijer’s [grocery store] in Northville, they had signs [saying] ‘Refugee from Ukraine.’ I don’t know if they’re people who we’ve saved as part of who we’re helping bring from over there, or if they’re just border people. We don’t know. I don’t know if their signs are real. I can’t give money to everybody on every street corner…I’m not saying they’re from Ukraine. I’m just saying you can’t trust their signs.”
Kevin, 45, from Rochester Hills, Michigan, explained, “Where I work in Southfield, at an intersection, 12 Mile and Lahser [Road], there’s a family that holds up a sign that says they recently came into the United States from the southern border, from Mexico. They’re refugees that have no food, no money, no job, asking for money.”
“Some of them end up coming all the way up here [to Wisconsin],” commented Michael, 25, from Green Bay, Wisconsin. “My mother is a public school teacher, and she has to help deal with the additional students. Even if they don’t speak any English, she still has to figure out how to teach them.”
The words they would use to describe President Biden’s handling of the situation at our southern border included “criminal,” “negligent,” “anemic,” “inconsistent,” “absent,” and a “mess.” They believe Biden is leaving the border “wide open” and “not enforcing the laws there.” Swing voters in Michigan noted that his administration is trying to force Governor Abbott of Texas to take down the razor wire he had erected at the border.
Michigan swing voters were divided over former President Trump’s handling of the situation at our southern border, using words ranging from “priority,” “aware,” and “controllable,” to “xenophobic,” “reckless,” and “catastrophic.” The good news for Trump is that these swing voters trust him a lot more to protect our southern border than Biden. Among our 27 swing voters overall, 17 trust Trump more, while the other 10 trust Biden more or neither of them. Respondents believe Trump is more “action-oriented,” which is supported by his willingness to start building the border wall while he was president.
While some swing voters are disappointed the recently defeated border bill wasn’t passed by Congress, most swing voters in Wisconsin indicated they are skeptical about Biden’s argument that Congressional action is needed because he cannot shut down the border himself. They believe he can shut down the border by himself.
Biden’s hopes for a second term may depend on whether he is able to convince the American people that he is taking their concerns about the situation at our southern border seriously, and whether he acts in a timely manner to address them.
Rich Thau is the president of the research firm Engagious, which specializes in message testing and message refinement for trade associations and advocacy groups. He is also the moderator of the Swing Voter Project, conducted in partnership with Sago. Matt Steffee is vice president of research services at Engagious.
