The majority of likely voters say they blame Vice President Kamala Harris for record levels of illegal immigration at the United States-Mexico over the last three and a half years, a New York Times/Siena College poll reveals.
The poll asked likely voters “How much blame, if any, do you think Kamala Harris as sitting vice president should receive for … problems at the border” — record illegal immigration, in other words — to which 63 percent said they place “a lot of blame” or “some blame” on Harris.
In April of 2021, President Joe Biden asked Harris to lead the administration’s effort in “stemming the movement of so many folks, stemming the migration to our southern border.” As a result, many media outlets and lawmakers began referring to Harris as the “border czar.”
The poll shows the majority of likely voters are not convinced by Harris’s attempt to distance herself from the border. Only 16 percent of likely voters said Harris bears “no blame at all” for record illegal immigration over the last few years.
Meanwhile, of the majority that do blame Harris, 74 percent are white non-college-educated voters, 51 percent are non-white non-college-educated voters, and 62 percent are white college-educated voters.
Most significantly, perhaps, 63 percent of swing voters said they blame Harris.
Regarding who likely voters trust more on immigration, the poll found that 53 percent favor former President Donald Trump on the issue while a minority of 43 percent favor Harris. Among swing voters, 53 percent favor Trump over Harris.
Trump has long campaigned on mass deportations, a crackdown on illegal immigration at the border, and tightening the labor market by stemming the flow of foreign workers into American jobs. Harris, on the other hand, has vowed to continue Biden’s legacy on immigration, which has welcomed nearly 7 million migrants to the United States since he took office and ensured that the majority of job growth in the labor market goes to foreign workers.