The Warning Light Is On

We now know that Republicans will have control of the House of Representatives, and Democrats will have the edge in the Senate. And “Whoa, Nellie“…

We know immigration was one of the top issues this year. Poll after poll before the election indicated it. Exit polls were even clearer.

In the end, immigration just couldn’t quite dislodge issues like inflation and abortion… this time.

The unexpected electoral over performance prompted President Joe Biden to respond that he planned to change “nothing”when asked if he would do anything different to convince voters that the country isn’t on the wrong track.

If indeed nothing changes at the border or with our immigration policy for the next two years, immigration could be a very potent issue in 2024, and it wouldn’t be something that “comes out of nowhere.”

Even aside from the potential optics of continued mass illegal (and legal) worker importation amid a recession some experts are predicting, a reality where around 100 foreign nationals on the terrorist watchlist are encountered per year by Border Patrol (with unknown numbers among the unvetted “gotaways”) could prove catastrophic.

Maintaining the status quo on immigration is tantamount to ignoring your car’s “check engine” light and continuing to drive it as hard as you want. It’s possible that a minor sensor is out of whack, and that nothing bad will happen, sure. But if your engine seizes, it could immediately become your most critical problem.

Members of both parties would be wise to respond to the “check engine light” and advance legislation that closes loopholes at the border and reforms immigration to better serve the national interest.

Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg had this to say in New York Magazine on Friday when asked if the results indicated something sustainable for Democrats:

Senator Mitt Romney, in an op-ed calling for bipartisan “immigration reform,” relayed a conversation with one of his Democrat colleagues: “I asked a leading Democrat why his party hasn’t acted to secure the border, especially since its failure to do so gives my party a huge advantage in swing states such as Arizona and Nevada. His answer: ‘You don’t understand the power of the immigration lobby.’ Madness.”

The warning light is on. It was on before 2016, too.

BONUS exit poll graphics, courtesy of The Washington Post:

ANDREW GOOD is the Director of the Media Standards Program for NumbersUSA