A slim majority of voters back the Republican ploy of transporting immigrants from border communities beset with an influx of immigrants to Democratic-led cities, according to a new poll.
Some 51% of registered voters surveyed support the transporting of immigrants, eclipsing the 49% who disapprove, according to a CBS-YouGov poll that surveyed 2,253 voters between Sept. 21-23. A total of 88% of respondents agreed the move was effective at generating attention to the issue.
US MUST HAVE ‘RECORD’ INVESTMENT AT THE BORDER TO STOP TERRORISTS: JOHN KIRBY
“The Biden-Harris Administration continues ignoring and denying the historic crisis at our southern border, which has endangered and overwhelmed Texas communities for almost two years,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) chided earlier this month.
Since April, Abbott has sent over 11,000 immigrants to Democratic-run cities such as New York, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. Recently, he sparked ire from the Biden administration by sending several busloads of immigrants to Vice President Kamala Harris’s residence at the Naval Observatory.
Other Republican governors have hopped on the bandwagon, including Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, who similarly sent immigrants to Washington, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who chartered a plane delivering about 50 immigrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
GOP governors have railed against President Joe Biden’s handling of immigration and insist the immigrant busing tactic will show Democrats what they face on a daily basis. The United States has topped a record-smashing 2 million arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border for fiscal year 2022, which ends Friday.
Meanwhile, Democrats have cried foul at the gambit, berating Abbott and DeSantis for weaponizing migrants as political props and taking advantage of them. Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser has requested National Guard support, and other Democratic mayors have taken measures to prepare for the onslaught of immigrants being sent to their cities.
“These vulnerable migrants were reportedly misled about where they were headed, told they would be headed to Boston, misled about what they would be provided when they arrived,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre proclaimed, per the New York Post. “These are the kinds of tactics we see from smugglers.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
While a slim majority backs the immigrant shipping tactic, support for the move largely falls along party lines. Strong support among Republicans has buoyed voter backing to a majority. Roughly 87% of Republicans approve of the move, compared to 20% of Democrats, while independent voters narrowly disapprove 48% to 52%, according to the poll.
The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.3 percentage points.
