Heartland voters feeling strain of mass migration: 'Every state is a border state'

The oft-repeated claim by Republican politicians, "Every state is a border state," appears to be resonating with voters across the country and notably in states that are thousands of miles away from the U.S. southern border. 

"Every state became a border state when President Biden took office and immediately reversed commonsense policies that protected our borders," Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

Immigration surpassed all other issues in a poll by Gallup in February, as more Americans agreed it was "the most important problem facing this country today." The number of respondents to say so jumped eight points from January, to 28%. The previous issue cited as most important by Americans was "government," followed by immigration, inflation and the economy in general. While immigration concerns managed to climb, government, inflation and economic worries remained relatively steady. 

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Govs. Kim Reynolds and Chris Sununu said their states of Iowa and New Hampshire see the effects of the border crisis, despite being far away, as President Biden is criticized for allegedly exacerbating immigration issues.  (Getty Images)

The issue ranked as the most important for the first time since 2019, prior to President Biden taking office and during former President Trump's administration. This was the year Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border following congressional refusal to grant him requested funds for border wall construction. 

"The federal government’s inaction at our nation’s borders has led to a crisis with direct impacts upon all fifty states," New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

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In the state, which is more than 2,000 miles from the U.S. southern border, 83% of residents said they consider illegal immigration a serious issue for the country. Among those residents, 58% said it is "very serious," according to a March University of New Hampshire Survey Center (UNHSC) poll. 

Andrew Smith, director of the UNHSC, noted that the percentage of those who agree that illegal immigration is a "very serious" issue nationally has remained steady for more than a decade. 

Julie Kirchner, executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), told Fox News Digital in a statement, "Americans are not only seeing total chaos at the borders, where foreign nationals are literally tearing down barriers and assaulting border agents, they are witnessing first-hand how the crisis impacts every aspect of society."

At the same time, the March polling revealed that support for the construction of a border wall has surged since 2017, when opposition among New Hampshire residents was at more than half. Now, 52% in the state are in favor of the border wall, while 39% are against it. 

"Every state, including New Hampshire, has experienced firsthand the economic and emotional toll associated with the federal government’s failed response," said Sununu. 

The southern border is a main entry point for illegal immigrants. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Reynolds claimed, "It’s clear to Iowans, and the American people, that the only way this chaos and crisis at the border can be fixed is at the ballot box," crediting Biden with the widespread effects of illegal immigration. 

Democratic strategist Eric Koch pushed back on the idea the surging concern over immigration is Biden's fault, however. He noted that Republicans and Democrats in the Senate had been negotiating a border package "that President Biden said he would have signed." The deal was ultimately sunk after former President Trump came out against it and Republican lawmakers followed suit. 

"Trump and Republicans don't actually want to solve problems and walking away from the bipartisan border deal only confirms that," Koch added. 

A White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement, "The Administration spent months negotiating in good faith to deliver the toughest and fairest bipartisan border security bill in decades because we need Congress to make significant policy reforms and to provide additional funding to secure our border and fix our broken immigration system."

The statement accused Republicans of placing "partisan politics ahead of our national security" in rejecting the border deal.

"Even without significant action from Congress, DHS is maximizing its enforcement operations," the spokesperson said. 

In South Carolina's recent Republican presidential primary, 37% of voters pointed to immigration as the issue that was of the most significance to them ahead of casting their vote, according to a Reuters exit poll.  (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

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In South Carolina's recent Republican presidential primary, 37% of voters pointed to immigration as the issue that was of the most significance to them ahead of casting their vote, according to a Reuters exit poll. 

The economy came in second at 33% in the state, which is similarly more than 1,000 miles from the southern border. 

"Every state is a border state because the Biden administration policies are to allow hundreds of thousands of aliens to illegally enter the United States and then be transported by federally funded NGO’s to wherever they choose," said James Massa, CEO of NumbersUSA. 

"A reason those non-border state voters are so focused on this is because of the right-wing media obsession with the issue," claimed Democratic strategist Kaivan Shroff, who chalked some of the concern up to a tactic to rally the Republican base.

"The irony here is Biden and Democrats have put forth a bipartisan border deal that would address many of the cited concerns Republicans have been focused on, and the deal was killed because of Trump," he added, echoing both the White House and fellow strategist Koch. 

As Massa pointed out, non-governmental organizations are involved in the transportation of illegal immigrants to various locations within the U.S., and many of these NGOs also receive federal reimbursement and advance payments from the Department of Homeland Security for providing shelter or other eligible services to migrants released by DHS. 

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DHS reimburses NGOs for costs associated with migrant sheltering. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

"The border crisis is funded with taxpayer dollars, regardless of state," he claimed. 

He further said that illegal immigrants are choosing to travel further into the U.S. once being paroled by DHS, opting to settle in states "that have sanctuary policies and/or benefit programs."

Illegal immigrants have also been transported by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's administration to locations that have touted "sanctuary" policies for illegal immigrants, which some have pointed to as a trigger for concerns about the border across the country. 

"Since launching the border transportation mission in April 2022, Texas has transported over 112,000 migrants to self-declared sanctuary cities to provide much-needed relief to our overrun and overwhelmed border communities as the Biden administration leaves thousands of migrants in Texas border towns," said Renae Eze, Abbott spokesperson. 

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Republican strategist Doug Heye noted that "complaints from Democratic politicians that they can’t handle this crisis on their own" lend some credence to the claim that every state is now effectively a border state. 

Abbott began busing migrants in 2022. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images, left, John Moore/Getty Images, right)

Leaders of cities such as Chicago and New York, among others, have been overwhelmed by the illegal immigrants pouring in, prompting them to request assistance from Biden and the White House and plead with Abbott to halt his busing program.

"The sheer hypocrisy of these Democrat mayors knows no bounds, going to extreme lengths to avoid fulfilling their self-declared sanctuary city promises, yet they remain silent as President Biden transports migrants all around the country and oftentimes in the cover of night," added Eze. 

Iowa GOP strategist David Kochel suggested the "squealing of [Democratic] mayors … is definitely related to the busing."

Julia Johnson is a politics writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business, leading coverage of the U.S. Senate. She was previously a politics reporter at the Washington Examiner. 

Follow Julia's reporting on X at @JuliaaJohnson_ and send tips to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..