by Steve Cortes
Arizona voters have had more than enough of Biden’s border radicalism, as revealed by our brand-new battleground state polling.
Immigration abuses alarm Arizona residents who occupy the front lines of the Biden border disaster. In Arizona, law enforcement, local officials, and regular citizens must cope, every day, with the tangible reality of the safety and logistical nightmare created by Biden’s border recklessness. These hard-working citizens also deal most acutely with the lasting fallout of uncontrolled migration, especially regarding unaffordable housing and stagnant real wages.
Overall, our extensive polling of Arizona conducted by North Star Opinion Research reveals that immigration places second only to the economy as the top issue for voters.
My advocacy organization, the League of American Workers, commissioned this survey since Arizona could well decide national elections in 2024. After all, the last two presidential elections in that swing state of 7 million were decided by fewer than 100,000 votes…combined. As such, ‘as goes Arizona, so goes America.’
Our national battleground survey detailed intense angst on the topic of immigration, as Biden’s radical recklessness has effectively turned every jurisdiction in America into a border town. But, not surprisingly, the worry is even more pronounced in the literal border state of Arizona.
For example, a known dangerous terrorist recently crossed into America at the southern border near Lukeville, Arizona. This man is indicted in his home country of Senegal on serious charges, in that West African region that has become a hotbed of Islamist terror. Regardless, he sauntered across the border into Arizona with ease. He was then, astoundingly, given safe passage within America to his requested destination of New York City.
Was he going to spring an attack in NYC?
We do not know since, thankfully, ICE learned of his presence and arrested him two weeks into his illegal stay here. But clearly, plenty of malcontents are mixed among the millions of unchecked, unvetted illegal migrants that Biden and Mayorkas incentivize to bull rush the US border into Arizona.
When asked specifically about this indicted terrorist, 63% of Arizonans said this incident makes them “more concerned” about the border. Even among Democrats, fully 1/3 acknowledged this issue concerns them.
In addition, Arizona Hispanic voters share deep concern over the porous border. In my previous column, I detailed the overall shift among Hispanic citizens to the political Right. Our new Arizona poll validates that realignment, since an even higher percentage of Hispanics (66%) expressed alarm over this border incident than among white Arizonans.
Sorry to break it to the corporate media that wants to pretend that Hispanics are soft on border issues, but the on-the-ground numbers clearly say otherwise. For example, our poll asked about Palestinian refugees from Gaza, and only 17% of Arizona Hispanics said they should be allowed into America, with 58% responding that neighboring Arab countries should absorb such migrants.
Arizonans of all ethnicities and races conveyed deep anxiety about inflation, especially the staples items of life like food and housing — as Biden’s inflation and rising interest rates crush household budgets. In fact, Arizona has one of the worst housing affordability situations in America, with only 27% of housing in the Phoenix area attainable for middle income households.
But amazingly, few leaders in politics or media make the clear connection between a border teeming with trespassers and the clear lack of affordable housing for citizens! Building new homes becomes more difficult, due to workforce skill shortages, ongoing supply chain constraints, and onerous local building regulations. So, importing millions upon millions of new illegal migrants into America naturally exacerbates the affordable housing shortage.
In addition, life becomes much harder for middle- and lower-income workers as real wages crash, meaning pay adjusted for the costs of everyday goods and services. In Arizona, real wages peaked in 2020 and have plunged 10% since. So, Arizonans are working harder to see their standard of living go down.
In that environment, how can the globalists justify America’s open border? After all, this borderless agenda invites millions of new workers into the labor market, to compete unjustly with Americans, depressing wages.
Arizona has long shared close cultural and cross-border ties with Mexico and the rest of Latin America. But citizens there also increasingly demand respect for the sovereignty of the United States. Into 2024, activists and leaders in battleground states will win hearts and minds – and votes – by presenting the policy agenda for law-and-order regarding immigration into our homeland.
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Steve Cortes is former senior advisor to President Trump, former commentator for Fox News and CNN, and president of the League of American Workers, a populist right pro-laborer advocacy group.
Photo “Illegal Immigrants” by Chief Jason Owens.
