The illegal immigration crisis at the southern border has Americans losing faith in our elections. That's the conclusion of a new Rasmussen Reports survey of likely U.S. voters. The poll finds 51% believe it is likely the 2024 presidential election will be directly influenced by illegal aliens voting. That includes 28% who think it is very likely. On the other hand, 42% believe it is not likely illegal immigrant votes will swing the election, including 22% who say it's not at all likely.
While there have been reports of non-citizens showing up on voting rolls in Texas and other states over the years, there hasn't been hard evidence of illegal immigrant votes actually swinging an election. Nevertheless, Democrats and blue states have openly pushed for illegals to gain voting rights. Whether that happens or not, the fact that a majority of voters now think it will happen is significant. "It reflects real concerns people have about not just what's happening at the southwest border, but also the downstream effects of what's going on at the southwest border," says Andrew Arthur, policy fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies.
"It shows that the effects of what is happening in the Sonoran Desert and along the Rio Grande are being felt within the heartland of the United States, in cities and towns everywhere in the republic," he continues.
There may not be large numbers of illegal aliens voting in elections (yet), but their presence still has a direct impact on elections. "What they will do is they will skew the Census, especially in blue states and cities," says Arthur. "And greater representation in Congress will be apportioned to those areas, even though those individuals can't vote."
Another concern about the influx of illegals into red states like Texas is that they will dilute the voting power of residents and eventually turn the state blue, like what has happened in California over the last 30 years. But Arthur believes that issue may end up backfiring on Democrats, as heavily Hispanic border districts in Texas have actually trended toward Republicans in recent years. "Communities along the Rio Grande that are adversely affected by this border surge are looking for a change," he tells KTRH. "They don't want the policies the Biden administration is offering to continue, because it is imposing a real cost on their communities."
Photo: AFP