Voters split on appropriateness of sending migrants to liberal states, cities: poll

Voters are nearly evenly divided on whether it is appropriate for GOP governors to send migrants to liberal states and cities, according to a new Politico-Morning Consult poll.

Forty-two percent of voters surveyed said the relocations are appropriate, while 41 percent said they are inappropriate. Seventeen percent said they didn’t know or had no opinion.

Three GOP governors have sent migrants to northern areas of the country in recent weeks in protest of Democrats’ immigration policies, arguing the relocations relieve overwhelmed border communities, although the specifics of their controversial plans differ.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) has bused more than 1,800 migrants to Washington, D.C.; Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has bused thousands more to D.C., Chicago and New York City; and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) last week flew about 50 migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Mass.

Views among voters in the poll released Wednesday split along partisan lines when it came to whether the relocations were appropriate.

Two-thirds of Republicans indicated the busing and flying of migrants was appropriate, compared to one-third of independents and 26 percent of Democrats.

Men were more likely to find the initiative appropriate within all three groups, the poll found.

When asked if the movement of migrants to blue areas is ineffective in addressing immigration reform, a plurality agreed. Forty-four percent of respondents said the relocations are ineffective, compared to 38 percent who called them effective.

The poll also found evidence that the relocations are drawing attention to immigration issues, finding that 39 percent saw, heard or read a lot about the transfers.

The figure clocked in higher than the proportion who said they heard the same about last week’s inflation report, which showed inflation edged up in August. Three in 10 voters indicated they heard a lot about the report.

Republicans have looked to portray President Biden and Democrats as supporting an open-border policy, highlighting areas receiving the migrants as so-called “sanctuary cities.”

But the relocations have fueled fury among Democrats, who argue the transfers turn asylum-seekers and migrants into political pawns.

Some of the transferred migrants have also indicated they were misled into crossing state lines, with a group of migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard now suing DeSantis.

Despite the roughly even split among voters nationally, past polling among Texas residents suggests Abbott’s initiative has majority support among his constituents.

A recent poll by the University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Politics Project found 52 percent of Texans support Abbott’s busing of migrants, while 35 percent oppose the initiative.

The latest Morning Consult-Politico poll of 2,005 registered voters was conducted Sept. 16-18 and has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.