The annual Immigration School organized by the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) hosted the fifth INIR conference event in Washington.
Panel participants Executive Director of CIS Mark Krikorian, Vice President of NumbersUSA Jim Robb, and Executive Director of Migration Research Institute Viktor Marsai discussed the impact of immigration on European and U.S. elections.
Viktor Marsai pointed out that while traditionally immigration had not been a salient issue in Europe’s election campaigns, the situation changed after Brexit. Since then, migration has risen to one of the significant issues in several European countries, from Sweden to Germany. In addition, where mainstream political parties ignored the issue, the far right succeeded in putting it on the agenda.
In relation to the USA, Jim Robb presented findings from opinion polls that confirm illegal immigration as the second or third most salient issue after the economy and inflation. Polls also reveal that the results go beyond party preferences, as the proportion of voters who judge this a burning issue is well above the levels of support for the traditionally immigration-critical Republican Party. An interesting development of the past years is that the proportion of those rejecting immigration has grown even among Hispanic communities commonly more lenient towards immigration. One of the main reasons for this is that newly arrived illegal immigrants target the same jobs as Hispanics born or already residing in the USA do.
In his summary, panel moderator Mark Krikorian emphasized that immigration is indeed going to be a top issue of the elections in November.
