During the 2024 presidential election campaign, YouGov asked registered voters their views on eight topics, including immigration — the immigration issues that matter most to them, the policies they support, and the candidates they trust.
Among our findings:
- Immigration is a far more important issue to Trump's supporters than it is to Harris': 77% of Trump supporters rank it as one of their top three issues, compared to just 14% of Harris supporters. That's the biggest gap for any of the eight issues polled about.
- Trump's supporters place a particularly large emphasis on border enforcement, something Harris' voters are less concerned with. Her supporters are most likely to prioritize pathways to citizenship, as well as immigrant-family separation.
- Our polling throughout the election has shown that voters are far more likely to prefer Trump than Harris on handling immigration. This is especially the case when it comes to trust about the issues his voters care most about, including border enforcement, a border wall, and deportations. Harris, on the other hand, excels in the areas that her supporters prioritize: pathways to citizenship and immigrant family separation.
- But Harris' and Trump's specific immigration policies receive, on average, roughly equal support. Trump's policies are far more polarizing, however, receiving high levels of support from his own supporters and far less from Harris'.
- Harris' most popular immigration policies included in the poll are funding drug detection technology and providing a pathway to citizenship for certain undocumented immigrants. Trump's proposal to use the Alien Enemies Act to deport certain immigrants is popular among supporters of both candidates. His plan to end catch-and-release for immigrants also is well liked overall, but more polarizing.
- Trump's travel ban on certain Muslim-majority countries is supported by fewer than half of voters, but still is more supported than Harris' proposal to increase refugee admissions.
- Most voters are capable of identifying Trump's immigration policies as such, especially his plans to build a border wall and to deport undocumented immigrants. Harris is closely associated with plans to expand immigration, but few are aware of her connection to more restrictive proposals, including those from the unsuccessful bipartisan border bill.
Which immigration issues do voters care about?
In a series of recent surveys, we asked voters to choose up to three issues that are most important to them out of a list of eight: the economy, health care, immigration, crime, social issues, environment and energy, foreign policy, and education.
To better understand which specific immigration issues voters care about, we asked them to select up to three issues from a list of 10 that are most important to them.
Who do voters trust to handle immigration?
Since Harris entered the presidential race against Trump, we've tracked who voters trust more to handle various issues, including immigration.
In our latest survey, we asked voters to tell us which of 10 immigration-related issues they trust Harris and Trump to handle.
Which immigration policies do voters support?
We asked voters whether they support or oppose selected immigration proposals that have been backed by Harris, Trump, or their respective parties. It was not revealed to respondents which candidate was connected to which policy. The policies come from the 2024 Democratic and Republican Party platforms, as well as publicly available interviews, speeches, debates, and online posts by the candidates. For more sourcing information, see the details provided here.
How familiar are voters with Harris' and Trump's immigration agendas?
After providing their opinions on various immigration plans, respondents were asked which candidate they think supports each one, with options of Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, both, or neither. Respondents who selected "both candidates" are included as saying both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
Explore Americans' views on policies across all issue areas:
See other polling related to immigration
- How immigration is taking center stage in 2024 politics
- Majorities of Republicans say immigrants and refugees receive too much government welfare
- How Americans rate the performance of U.S. agencies handling immigration
- As Congress considers a shutdown, here’s what Americans think of U.S. immigration policies
- Most Americans support 'Welcome Corps,' Biden's new refugee sponsorship program
- Support for immigration is much higher among young Americans than old ones
- Most Americans see the U.S.-Mexico border situation as a crisis
- A growing number of Americans say immigration makes the country worse off
- Most Americans support asylum only for Afghans who helped the U.S. military
- Half of Americans disapprove of Joe Biden's handling of immigration
Curious where voters stand on other issues? Click the links below to learn more.
- Overview of all issues
- Economy
- Health care
- Crime
- Social issues
- Environment and energy
- Foreign policy
- Education
See the full results for these surveys
See the full list of the policies and their sources
Methodology: This poll was conducted online on September 19 - 22, 2024 among 1,130 U.S. adult citizens, including 990 registered voters. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given prior to November 1, 2022, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (33% Democratic, 31% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample, as well as for registered voters, is approximately 4%.
Image: Getty
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