Nearly half of California Democrats believe that the southern border is not secure under the Biden administration, according to a Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) poll released Wednesday.
Approximately 44% of California registered Democrats do not feel that the southern border is secure, compared to another 44% who do, according to the Berkeley IGS poll. Moreover, 21% of California Democrats see illegal immigrants in the state as a “major burden” and 41% see it as a “minor burden.”
“The findings show that immigration is not clear-cut even in California, whose reputation as a sanctuary state often colors discussion on the issue,” G. Cristina Mora, co-director of IGS, said in a statement on Wednesday. “Such rifts seem to reflect broader frustrations with the Biden administration.”
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Of total registered voters in the state of California, 62% believe the border is not secure compared to 30% who do, according to the Berkely IGS poll. 42% of total voters agreed that illegal immigrants are a major burden to the state, with another 30% seeing them as a minor burden.
As of 2021, roughly 5% of California’s total population – about 1.8 million people – were illegal immigrants, putting it ahead of every other state in that category, according to Axios and Pew Research Center. Three hundred thousand illegal immigrants crossed the southern border and came to California in 2023 alone, ABC News reported.
The state spends roughly $25.3 billion annually in taxpayer dollars on services provided or related to illegal immigrants, according to the Federation for American Immigration Reform. Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom and his administration recently expanded the state’s version of Medicaid (called MediCal) to offer coverage to over 700,000 illegal immigrants.
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Broadly, illegal immigration has spiked under the Biden administration. Migrant apprehensions at the southern border passed 2.2 million in fiscal year 2022, compared to approximately 1.6 million in 2021, according to Customs and Border Protection data.
The Berkeley IGS poll was conducted from Jan. 4-8 with a random sample of 8,199 California registered voters. It had a margin of error of ±1.5 percent.
Newsom’s office and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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