Americans of all stripes are concerned that criminals are slipping into the US among the influx of migrants, indicating that Donald Trump’s border rhetoric is resonating with voters, our poll shows.
More than 76 percent of voters said they were concerned about murderers, rapists and thieves crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a DailyMail.com/TIPP poll of 1,432 voters earlier this month.
A fifth of them said they weren’t worried, and 3 percent said they weren’t sure.
The poll comes as former President Trump tightens his anti-migrant language in his bid to retake the White House from his rival, President Joe Biden.
Americans of all stripes are worried about criminals sneaking into the US, a national poll from DailyMail.com/TIPP found earlier this month
Migrant men search for border authorities as they plan to illegally cross the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas
It also follows a series of high-profile crimes committed in the US by recent arrivals from abroad.
The victims include Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student from Georgia, who was allegedly killed in the country illegally by a Venezuelan.
Pennsylvania Congressman Dan Meuser said this week that it is time to crack down on criminal immigrants.
“The Biden administration’s failed border policies have created a deadly crisis,” he said.
“We have migrant crime, drugs poisoning our youth, human trafficking and now squatting.”
Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, a Texas Democrat, disagreed, denouncing GOP claims “that immigrants have led to more crime.”
“One problem: the data shows that crime is down,” Crockett wrote.
Trump has focused on crimes committed by immigrants in the US illegally as part of his push for tighter border controls.
He says Biden’s policies are too lenient and has branded crimes committed by immigrants in the country illegally as “Biden migrant crime.”
The Republican uses harsh language and calls law-breaking migrants “animals” who “poison the blood of our country.”
A video of a group of migrants clashing with police in Times Square sparked political fury earlier this year
Critics have dismissed this language as akin to Nazism.
The Republican National Committee launched a website earlier this month called “Biden Bloodbath” that highlights anecdotal incidents involving migrants.
It focuses on eight US states, including Arizona, Michigan and Pennsylvania, and other electoral battleground states that will decide who wins the White House in November.
Several studies by academics and think tanks have shown that immigrants do not commit crime at a higher rate than native-born Americans.
A more limited number of studies examine crime among immigrants in the U.S. illegally, but also conclude that they do not commit crimes at a higher rate.
Trump and his fellow Republicans blocked efforts to boost border funding and security in Congress earlier this year.
That has led Biden to eye an executive order to halt the record number of illegal border crossings that have dominated headlines since he took office.
Any executive action would likely lead to legal challenges, political backlash and border enforcement issues.
Fears of chaos at the border are hurting Biden’s chances in the 2024 race.
Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student from Georgia, was killed while jogging on February 22
Laken’s father said the suspected killer, 26-year-old Jose Antonio Ibarra, would not have been here in the first place “if we had secure borders”
That includes the disorder in New York, Denver, Chicago and the congested cities where many migrants go after entering the US.
Our research shows that at least three-quarters of voters in all parts of the US are concerned about criminals crossing the southern border.
White men and people age 45 and older are more concerned about foreign lawbreakers than other groups.
It is not surprising that there is a partisan divide. More than 90 percent of Republicans are concerned about violators getting past border patrol agents.
Yet an overwhelming 69 percent of Democrats say they feel the same way.
The research has a margin of error of +/- 2.7 percent. It was conducted earlier this month by TIPP, which is known for the accuracy of its polls.