tags: Press Releases

Experts Detail Latest State of Immigration Post-Presidential Debate

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Access recording of today’s virtual briefing HERE

Read new AV report on volume and efficacy on anti-immigrant disinformation in ‘24 campaign HERE

Washington, DC On a virtual press briefing held today, leading experts assessed key storylines about immigration and the elections, including the costs of Trump’s proposed mass deportation on the U.S. economy, the Republican effort to advance the Big Lie 2.0, and an overview of polling and research on Latino voters’ views toward immigration, mass deportation and the election.

The briefing also featured the release of a new report from America’s Voice offering fresh research and analysis about the details and efficacy of Republicans’ record spending on anti-immigrant ads and messaging. and their effectiveness; and an overview of polling and research on Latino voters’ views toward immigration, mass deportation and the election. 

Robert Lynch, Professor of Economics (Emeritus), Washington College, noted on the briefing: “Economic studies have documented that the mass deportation of unauthorized immigrants would cause the U.S. economy to shrink. American workers would lose jobs, and their wages would go down.  The idea that mass deportation would help American citizens is an illusion. Research has documented that it has not worked in the past and it won’t work in the future.” Lynch is the co-author with Michael Ettlinger, of two recent reserach reports, “The Economic Impact on Citizens and Authorized Immigrants of Mass Deportation,” (Carsey School of Public Policy, UNH) and “Literature Review on the Economic Consequences of the Deportation of Unauthorized Immigrants,” published at SSRN (https://ssrn.com/abstract=4898970).

Caitlin Jury, Research Director at Equis, stated: “Mass deportation, particularly for long-term immigrants, is especially unpopular among Latino voters. A clear majority, 68% of Latinos in toss up states reject Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans. Messaging that educates voters about Trump’s mass deportation plans, especially his plans to deport immigrants who have been living and working in the US for decades, is the best persuasion message for Harris on immigration. Information about Trump’s hardline immigration policies is not already baked into voters’ decision for 2024. Mass deportation messaging offers an important opportunity to tell voters new information about what a second Trump term would look like.”

Jonah Minkoff-Zern, Co-Director, Public Citizen‘s Democracy Campaign, said: “MAGA Republicans are dangerously manufacturing the false issue of non-citizen voting. This false narrative aims to place barriers on everyday Americans to express our freedom to vote and perpetuate the Big Lie 2.0 so they can again attempt to undermine the results of the 2024 election should they lose. Instead of taking these extraordinary efforts to scapegoat immigrants and prevent Americans from voting, perhaps they should put forward an agenda that addresses the needs of the American people.”

Zachary Mueller, Senior Research Director at America’s Voice, discussed the details and implications of the new America’s Voice report, “Selling Xenophobia Packaged in Disinformation and noted, “While we document Republicans’ record-high spend and reliance on anti-immigrant political attacks this year, their strategy of xenophobia and reliance on dangerous bigoted conspiracies has largely failed to deliver in recent general elections and threatens to again do so this year.” Among the report findings include the data that in the first eight months of 2024, Republicans spent over $472M on 1,321 unique anti-immigrant TV ads in 2024, according to data assembled from AdImpact. America’s Voice also tracked 1,855 unique Facebook ads with anti-immigrant messaging and 1,717 campaign emails.

Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice, moderated the briefing and said: “All of us watched the debate and saw former President Trump continue his singular focus on demonizing immigrants. We also saw Trump avoid a direct question, just as he did during the Biden debate, about who he would target and how he would conduct the mass deportation plan he and Project 2025 are promising… I am not going to repeat the nonsense coming from Trump– but it underscores how he continues to double down on a strategy based on fear-mongering, division, and hate.”

Resources

  • Access virtual briefing recording HERE