Washington DC– With election day just 46 days away, the topic of immigration remains top-of-mind for many voters, including young voters who feel increasingly alienated by candidates’ enforcement-centric approach to immigration. Commissioned by United We Dream Action and Make the Road Action to conduct independent, nonpartisan polling and in-depth interviews with voters in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Nevada, Arizona, and Wisconsin, researchers and analysts at Change Research have discovered timely insights about the messages that most effectively persuade young voters when it comes to discussing immigration and immigrant communities this election season.
As the findings reveal, young voters (ages 18-34) are not only strongly persuaded by messaging that stresses values of humanity and efficiency in our country’s immigration system, but are notably disaffected and less likely to vote for candidates who support policies rooted in punishment, detention and deportation. Political engagement among eligible young voters has increased in recent years, with young voters being a deciding factor in the 2022 midterms in key battleground states, according to a survey by the Harvard Institute of Politics. This year and beyond, candidates cannot afford to ignore young voters’ concerns on immigration.
To read more about Change Research’s findings, click here.
Bruna Sollod, Senior Political Director of United We Dream Action, said:
“Young people have proven time and again that they are a generation that won’t back down from the issues and values that matter most to them. When it comes to immigration, their priority is ensuring that people’s lives and safety come before politics; that families can stay together, that no child is forced to witness a parent being deported, and that people have the opportunity to become citizens and thrive in this country. This research is a testament to the ways young voters are eager to support candidates who are truly willing to turn the page on the dehumanizing, anti-immigrant rhetoric and policies that have defined our country’s immigration system for decades and embrace fairness and humanity in policy and practice. From Pennsylvania and Arizona to Nevada and Wisconsin, young voters will be a defining factor in this year’s election. Now more than ever, Vice President Harris, Governor Tim Walz and Democrats up and down the ballot, must take their voices and concerns of young voters seriously and lead with a pro-immigrant pitch, not recycled talking points from MAGA politicians. Young voters don’t want to go backwards.”
Theo Oshiro, Co-Executive Director of Make the Road Action, said:
“This research is proof of what we’ve long suspected: the hard right turn on immigration that we’ve seen from Democrats is turning off voters, especially younger people whose votes will be decisive in this election. Rather than feeding the flames of hate and parroting MAGA talking points, Democrats must put the dignity of immigrants front and center. Voters are craving a new approach to immigration that is humane, efficient, and fair – not a crackdown that resembles some of the darkest chapters in our history. We hope these findings will be a chance for a reset and the start of a pro-immigrant message that can carry us all the way to the White House.”