Exclusive: Hispanics More Likely Than White Democrats to Say Border ‘Not Secure’ by Double-Digit Margins

Hispanic voters are far more likely than white Democrats to say the southern border is “not secure” — and less likely to say it is secure — according to a new survey from the Republican polling firm WPA Intelligence. The survey, provided exclusively to National Review, asked 1,000 registered voters — 936 of whom said they were likely to vote in the November midterm election — if they “believe the southern border of the United States is secure or not secure.” Among likely voters overall, just 26 percent said the border was “secure,” whereas 66 percent said it was “not secure.” But there were major discrepancies, reaching double-digit margins, by race and ideology: 48 percent of white Democrats said the border was “secure,” while 42 percent said it was “not secure,” whereas just 34 percent of Hispanics said the border was “secure,” while 53 percent said it was “not secure.”

Those discrepancies persisted in other questions related to immigration and the border. When asked if they “believe the security situation at the southern border impacts your community positively, negatively, or not at all,” 50 percent of likely voters said the effect was “negative,” 9 percent said it was “positive,” 26 percent said “not at all,” and 15 percent were “unsure.” Twenty percent of white Democrats said the security situation at the southern border had a negative effect on their community, while 13 percent said it was positive, 46 percent said it had no effect, and 21 percent were unsure. But among Hispanics, 47 percent said the lack of border security had a negative effect on their communities, with just 12 percent saying it was positive, 27 percent responding “not at all,” and 15 percent unsure.

The same was true when pollsters asked: “Compared to the border states, do you believe liberal states are doing their fair share regarding the absorption and care of asylum seekers, illegal immigrants, and refugees?” Twenty-five percent of likely voters answered “yes,” 43 percent answered “no,” and 31 percent said they were “unsure.” Fifty-three percent of white Democrats answered “yes,” 14 percent answered “no,” and 33 percent were unsure. But among Hispanics, 32 percent answered “yes,” 40 percent answered “no,” and 27 percent were unsure.

The deteriorating security of the southern border has been a top issue in this campaign cycle and has featured particularly prominently among Latino voters, who often bear the brunt of the negative effects of lax immigration enforcement. For decades, conventional wisdom in both parties held that the Latino voting bloc was monolithically pro-immigration and anti-border enforcement. But many Latino areas have moved right over the course of the past few years, even as the GOP has adopted a more hawkish stance on immigration — particularly in areas like South Texas, a heavily Latino region that is on the front lines of the border crisis, the Left’s staunch opposition to any kind of border enforcement has increasingly emerged as a political liability.