Poll: Plurality of Hispanic voters support Republican governors sending illegal immigrants to liberal states and cities

A recent Morning Consult / Politico national tracking poll indicated that a significant percentage of ethnically-Hispanic American voters think Republican governors' relocation of illegal aliens to Democrat-controlled cities is appropriate. This may prove to be another sign that a significant voting bloc, which CNN senior political analyst John Avlon suggested has been "taken for granted," is growing increasingly alienated by Democrat policies.

One of the questions posed in the poll, published on Tuesday, was: "Would you consider Republican governors sending migrants to liberal U.S. states and cities to be [appropriate / inappropriate / don't know / no opinion]?"

41% of Hispanic respondents said it was appropriate and 35% answered it was inappropriate. An additional 25% noted they were either unsure or didn't have an opinion.

The six-point rate of change between Hispanics in favor and those against was more pronounced than in the broadest category of registered voters, where 42% were in favor and 41% were opposed.

Pollsters asked the question again, but framed it in moral terms. 33% of Hispanics deemed it moral, whereas 39% stated it was immoral.

Republican Governors Ron DeSantis of Florida, Greg Abbott of Texas and Doug Ducey of Arizona have bused and flown thousands of illegal aliens to sanctuary cities and Democratic locales, including Washington, D.C., New York City, Chicago, and Martha's Vineyard.

Concerning the initiative, DeSantis' communications director Taryn Fenske told Fox News Digital that "States like Massachusetts, New York, and California will better facilitate the care of these individuals who they have invited into our country by incentivizing illegal immigration through their designation as 'sanctuary states' and support for the Biden Administration's open border policies."

Abbott likewise has endeavored to confront liberal states and cities with the fallout of the policies for which they have advocated. "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," he said on September 15.

He said of his decision to send illegals to the sanctuary city of Chicago, "To continue providing much-needed relief to our small, overrun border towns, Chicago will join fellow sanctuary cities ... as an additional drop-off location."

U.S. Customs and Border Protection have encountered over 2,150,639 illegals at the southern border so far this year, which have flooded into U.S. border regions, placing a strain on resources and depressing wages.

Hispanic voters and Democrat immigration policies

Recent trends have hinted at attitudes in the Hispanic community that might diminish the surprise that a plurality of Hispanics would agree that the relocation of illegals was appropriate.

A survey commissioned by Texas Latino Conservatives and released on August 11, 2022, revealed that 61% of Hispanics were bothered by the current direction of the Democrat Party. 28% of those not yet Republicans shared this same bother.

57% of those surveyed suggested they favored tougher border security measures "to stop illegal migrants from crossing." 27% said they favored allowing more illegals into the U.S. to seek asylum.

Although reportedly winning 65% of the Hispanic vote in 2020, Biden's approval rating amongst the demographic now sits at 51%.

Alienation and shift

In 2020, there was significant shift of Hispanic voters towards the Republican Party as well as a 30% increase in Hispanic voter participation (i.e., from 2016).

In the last presidential election, former President Donald Trump won 46% of the Hispanic vote in Florida and 41% in Texas. Nationally, he won 32% of the Hispanic vote, a four-point increase over his take in 2016.

CNN reported earlier this year that there are 16 counties in Texas where the super-majority of the electorate is Hispanic. In the county with the highest percentage of Hispanics, Biden won by 5 points. In 2016, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was up by 60 points. That's a 55-point slide.

It is not just a matter of Democrats performing worse with Hispanics. Republicans are faring better.

Republican Congresswoman Mayra Flores (Texas) flipped a historically Democrat-held and heavily Hispanic region in June. Upon winning by eight points, she stated, "For over 100 years, we have been taken for granted ... I will show you what real representation looks like."

Cassy Garcia, who formerly served as U.S. Senator Ted Cruz's Deputy State Director, is presently running for Congress. She recently told Fox News Digital that "Democrats are running scared right now."

Garcia noted she had spoken to Democrats who've told her that they are abandoning the Democrat Party and voting Republican because it shares their values.

It's not just the votes of former supporters the Democrats may lose out on. 52% of Hispanic voters identified as independents in 2021.

This summer, pundit Van Jones highlighted the shift and the potential: "Democrats don't see this coming, we overreact to the cultural moves, under-react to the economic appeal and you're seeing a pay-off for MAGA."

It is worth noting that the Hispanic voting bloc is hardly ideologically or ethnically uniform.

According to a recent Axios-Ipsos poll, 58.2% of Cubans think it is more important to secure U.S. borders and help citizens than to "help immigrants escape poverty ... in their home countries. By way of contrast, only 18.5% of Central American voters prioritize the former, while 73.4% of them prioritize the latter.