What Swing Voters Actually Want to Hear from Democrats on Immigration

During the Biden Administration, many senior officials and elected Democrats believed that any day they were talking about immigration in public was a day they were losing. But this was not a winning strategy. It ceded the megaphone to Republicans and allowed them to control the narrative and sway public opinion on a wide range of immigration issues. It didn’t help that there was an actual migration crisis at the border that swept through American cities and contributed to a sense of public disorder. The Biden White House ultimately tried to counter this narrative in 2024, including by imposing commonsense limitations on asylum claims, but they had already lost the debate. Democratic candidates should not repeat this mistake.

Despite being more than two years removed from this border crisis, Democrats are still struggling to find a cohesive policy message that resonates with voters. Our polling found that a supermajority of voters support legal immigration. But voters also support fair enforcement and want immigrants to follow the rules and to be treated humanely. Trump’s lawless approach to interior immigration enforcement and deportations has led him to lose ground on an issue that was once a major strength, providing an opening for Democrats—if they can find the right message.

Searchlight has guidance that will help Democrats speak about immigration in a way that actually connects with the voters they need to win back a majority in the House and the Senate. That means focusing on persuadable voters—those who said they were open to voting for either party in the Fall—across 66 contested congressional battleground districts.

We tested a wide range of messages, spanning from very conservative to very liberal, on 1,500 voters in battleground states. We also tested a variety of responses to common Republican attacks on key issues such as open borders, abolishing ICE, sanctuary cities, and amnesty. Our results show a clear path forward for Democrats to win on immigration if they focus on public safety, order, and fairness.

Importantly, our polling finds that the number one issue motivating our respondents to vote in the midterm elections is the cost of living, which was flagged by a supermajority (68%) of voters and 75% of persuadable voters. Immigration and border security were a distant third at a combined 22%, tied with corruption.

Democrats should clearly focus their campaigns on the cost of groceries, gas, and healthcare, but must be ready and willing to respond confidently when immigration issues inevitably come up.

Tone and Framing

Americans are tired of the chaos that they have seen in our immigration system both at the border under Biden and now in our communities under Trump. We asked voters to identify two words they would use to describe their ideal approach to immigration. The top three results were humane (41%), fair (35%), and consistent (29%), the top 3 choices for Democrats and persuadable voters. This is a clear rejection of the wildly swinging pendulum on immigration over the last three administrations and the unpredictable disorder that it has brought.

When talking about immigration generally, candidates should focus on the following concepts:

• Voters want an immigration system that is fair and rewards people who follow the rules, work hard, and contribute to our country.
• Voters want an immigration system that treats people humanely and with respect—even as it pursues enforcement actions.
• Voters want an immigration system that is predictable and consistent. They are tired of seeing the pendulum swing wildly back and forth, and having our immigration policy lurch from one extreme to the other.

Messaging

We tested a wide range of messages that spanned the political spectrum to see what specific concepts were most effective with persuadable voters.Three key messages significantly outperformed the others.

The top two messages across all respondents, including persuadable voters and independents, were messages that focused on requiring immigrants to come through the front door (32%) and enforcing our immigration laws firmly, but fairly (29%):

• Front Door: Immigrants should come into this country through the front door, following the legal process, not sneak in through the back door.
• Firm, but Fair: We should enforce our immigration laws firmly and consistently, but we should also enforce them fairly, without cruelty.

The third option varied significantly by group, but independents and persuadable voters both opted for a message that emphasized how immigration done right made America stronger:

• • Done Right: Immigration done right makes America more prosperous and stronger. Immigration done wrong makes us less safe and weaker.

By contrast, the persuadable voters were least moved by messages with more partisan tropes, such as not letting people cut the line (1%), the need for immigration enforcement to be strong (1%), or responding to an invasion of illegal immigrants (2%):

1. Cut in Line: We shouldn’t let people cut the immigration line and jump ahead of everyone else, but the line itself needs to move a lot faster.
2. Strong and Fair: Immigration enforcement should be strong and consistent at the border, and fair and reasonable everywhere else in the country.
3. Invasion: Our country has been invaded by illegal immigrants, and every one of them has to go, no matter what it takes.

Democratic voters, on the other hand, prioritized messages that focused on the moral obligation we have to help those in need, and that immigrants make our country stronger and more diverse. The need for immigration enforcement to be firm, but fair, was the third choice for Democrats. This illustrates the divide between the Democratic base and the persuadable voters the party needs to win elections.

Given these results, candidates looking to convince persuadable voters should focus on messages that emphasize the need for an orderly immigration process that enforces our laws firmly, but also treats immigrants fairly—a message that also resonated with Democrats. If they want to specifically talk to persuadable voters, they should emphasize the need to close the back door to illegal immigration and require that immigrants come in through the front door. They should steer clear of overtly partisan messages that demonize immigrants, however, which tested poorly with persuadable voters and Democrats alike.

Effective Responses to Republican Attacks

Lastly, we tested a variety of responses to core Republican attacks on four key issues: Open Borders, Sanctuary Cities, Amnesty, and Abolishing ICE. For each of these lines of attack, we identified at least one response that outperformed the GOP message by double digits among key voting demographics.

When Republicans launch an attack about open borders, Democrats should pivot to a message that ensures public safety, closes the back doors in our system, and requires immigrants to come in through the front door. They should steer clear of messages that focus on President Biden’s actions.

Democrats facing Republican attacks on Sanctuary cities—locations that refuse to cooperate with ICE—should focus on the need to maintain public safety. This means advocating for the policy that allows local police to focus on their jobs and for ICE to focus on arresting criminals.  They should steer clear of messages that reference immigrants living in fear and not reporting crimes.

Persuadable voters support holding ICE—as an agency—accountable but are less persuaded by messages that do not articulate a commitment to immigration enforcement. Democrats facing Republican attacks over abolishing ICE should explicitly voice their support for immigration enforcement that is focused on deporting criminals, but note that ICE has gone too far and needs to be reined in. If their goal is to appeal to persuadable voters, they should focus broadly on accountability for the agency rather than just unmasking ICE personnel.

Conclusion

Our polling shows that Democrats should learn from the mistakes of the Biden Administration and not be scared to talk about immigration. But they also must understand the nuances of public opinion on this polarizing issue. The battleground voters we polled, especially persuadable voters, are tired of the chaos they see in our immigration system and are looking for commonsense approaches to administering our immigration laws.

Persuadable voters were more likely to agree with Republicans than Democrats on the need to impose consequences on illegal immigrants, particularly those who commit crimes, and to require immigrants to come here the right way.  But they were also far more likely to agree with Democrats than Republicans on the need to enforce our laws fairly and humanely, and reward longtime immigrants who have not committed crimes and have jobs with a pathway to citizenship.

As Democrats hit the campaign trail, they should lean into messages that focus on public safety and order and enforcing our laws firmly, and not be afraid to talk about the need to treat immigrants who have done things the right way—including those who have illegally resided in the United States for years—fairly.

But first and foremost, they should probably focus on the fact that the groceries cost too damn much.