As the midterm election cycle is well underway, recent polling suggests that Texas voters favor Governor Greg Abbott on critical issues relating to border security and immigration law enforcement.
A recent University of Texas poll suggested that 48% of voters “trust Abbott to do a better job than O’Rourke” on immigration and border security, holding a 12-point advantage over the Democratic challenger.
Abbott also leads on the issues of the economy (46% to 35%), public safety (46% to 28%), and property taxes (40% to 35%). Overall, voters seem to favor the incumbent over O’Rourke by a steady 5 points.
These trends also follow wider national polling data, which indicate that ongoing concerns about border security have led voters to favor the Republican approach to immigration issues.
A new NBC poll shows that voters appear to favor Republicans when it comes to their approach to immigration, with the GOP holding a 17-point advantage over Democrats. On border security specifically, 56% of voters sided with Republicans while Democrats only garnered 20% support.
The border policies of the national Democratic party have seemingly hurt their standing in the southern regions of Texas, which have historically been blue strongholds. In a special election earlier this year, Republican Mayra Flores successfully flipped House District 24 by nearly a 7-point margin.
In Terrell County, several lifelong Democratic officials, including the county judge, county clerk, and county treasurer have switched parties citing border security as the pivotal issue. The Democrat-run city of El Paso has begun busing migrants out of the state, following the lead of Gov. Abbott.
Laredo-based Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) has recently called upon the Biden administration to take a stronger stance on increasing border security.
The congressman explained, “We’ve got to give Border Patrol, we’ve got to give ICE, Homeland Security, the equipment – you know, making sure they have everything where they can enforce the law because if we don’t have repercussions at the border, we’re going to continue getting 8,000 people a day.”
Approximately 54% of Texans said they approved Gov. Abbott’s bussing program, which provides voluntary transportation for migrants to the self-declared sanctuary cities of Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C.
This program has shaken those cities as the several thousand migrants who have been sent there have stretched the cities’ resources to the breaking limit. New York City Mayor Eric Adams has recently considered using cruise ships to house some of the 11,000 arrivals from Texas.
This year alone, over 2 million arrests have been made by border enforcement agents, as reported by The Dallas Express, and estimates suggest that over 15.5 million unlawful migrants currently reside in the United States, costing roughly $143 billion annually.
The Biden administration, however, has appeared reticent to increase border security efforts, and Vice President Kamala Harris recently insisted that “the border is secure.”