During a June 2019 MSNBC Democratic presidential primary debate, co-moderator Savannah Guthrie asked the candidates to raise their hands if their healthcare plans would cover undocumented immigrants. All ten candidates, including former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris, raised their hands.
That shocking moment demonstrated just how far left the party had drifted. It showed that Democrats had abandoned their centrist roots and fully embraced a more radical agenda. As ludicrous as the idea seemed, with the backing and promotion of legacy media and Big Tech, this and other equally extreme proposals soon became normalized.
We all know what followed. The Biden administration’s open-border policies allowed, at a minimum, 10 million largely unvetted illegal immigrants to pour into the country. This unprecedented influx of so many overwhelmingly needy newcomers strained city and state budgets, marginalized citizens, and in many cases, put Americans’ safety at risk. And on November 5, 2024, voters delivered a resounding “no” to the liberal policies and to the liberal politicians responsible for those policies.
Much to the Democrats’ surprise, the majority of the electorate rejects the party’s coddling of undocumented aliens and sides with the Republicans on this issue.
On Tuesday morning, CNN data analyst Harry Enten presented some stunning statistics that show no group has flipped harder to the right on illegal immigration than legal immigrants.
Enten showed that in 2020, immigrant citizens — those who followed the legal path to citizenship — were asked which party they trusted more on immigration.
The group favored Democrats by a 32-point margin.
Four years later, however, they favored Republicans by an 8-point margin.
That’s a 40-point swing.
“Republicans now lead on this issue by 8 points over Democrats,” Enten said. “More so than any other group that I could find, the group of voters that became more hawkish on immigration were, in fact, immigrants themselves — immigrants who were registered to vote in this country.”
His clearly unenthused colleague, Kate Baldwin, asked how immigrants feel about President Trump.
Enten noted that in 2016, Trump won 36% of the immigrant citizen vote. In 2020, his share ticked up to 39%. And in 2024, it reached 47%.
“There is no block of voters that shifted more to the right from 2020 to 2024 than immigrant voters,” he emphasized. “Immigrant voters have increasingly liked Donald Trump and have increasingly moved to the right on immigration and into the Republican camp.”
Baldwin asked how immigrant citizens feel about people who are in the country illegally. A very excited Enten replied, “This is when it all comes together.”
In 2020, the net favorability of illegal immigrants among immigrant citizens stood at +23%. By 2024, it had dropped to -6% — a striking 29-point decline in just four years.
“So, immigrant citizens have become increasingly unfavorable in their views of those immigrants who are here illegally. … [Immigrant citizens] have felt increasingly distant from those immigrants who are here illegally.”
In conclusion, Enten said, “And so, from a political angle, this is why Donald Trump feels so comfortable because, in fact, among the group that you would think would be most opposed to this, in fact, they’ve become increasingly favorable not just toward Donald Trump, but toward the Republican point of view on immigration and becoming distant from those immigrants who are here illegally.”
This growing alignment between immigrant citizens and the Republican Party is not particularly surprising. In many ways, it seems to be a natural fit. For many immigrant communities, particularly Hispanic-Americans, deeply held beliefs around faith, family, and personal responsibility are central to their cultural identity. These values often mirror key pillars of the Republican platform, such as a strong emphasis on religious freedom, traditional family structures, and a commitment to hard work and self-reliance.
As these immigrants establish themselves and become more politically active, it is understandable that they would gravitate toward a party that seems to reflect their moral and cultural priorities.
However, as Enten noted, while 47% of immigrant citizens supported Donald Trump, a roughly equal proportion cast their votes for Harris. What stands out, though, is the broader trend: a measurable and growing shift to the right among this significant voting bloc.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on LinkedIn or X.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY