A national Spectrum News-Ipsos poll asking Americans their thoughts on immigration policy seems to indicate that, despite occasionally vast cultural differences across the country, the general public is less divided than partisan rhetoric might imply.

Californian opinions, especially, seem to reflect much of the rest of the country — only in rare cases did responses from the Golden State venture more than 10% away from the opinions of the rest of the nation.

“There are still a lot of similarities across 'red' and 'blue' states in what people believe, and a whole lot of folks that are out there in the middle, caught between the two extremes,” said Morris Levy, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Southern California.

However, a polling analyst observed that a person’s political identity is often the greatest indicator of their feelings on immigration.

“There’s very little difference between Californians and the American public as a whole. Where you see differences emerge is that, ultimately, immigration is still looked at through a partisan lens,” said Mallory Newall, Director of Public Affairs for Ipsos. “Though we’re seeing commonalities from state to state and on the national levels, there are big divides on this issue, primarily based on political affiliation.”

This Spectrum News-Ipsos poll coincides with a Spectrum News series examining issues along the U.S.-Mexico border, spanning from Texas to California. Over two weeks, Spectrum News journalists are traveling nearly 2,000 miles along the length of the border, telling stories from the ground.

The poll consisted of interviews of more than 2,000 respondents — a representative sample of 1,005 from across the country, as well as a 505 response targeted sample of Californians.

“One thing that’s striking is just how widespread the support is for funding for immigration enforcement and the active role that Americans and people in these border states want the federal government to play in enforcement,” Newall said.

Seventy-three percent of Californians surveyed agree with increasing criminal penalties for immigrant smugglers crossing into the U.S. illegally, 59% agreed with increasing federal funding for immigration enforcement and 57% agreed with imposing economic sanctions to encourage Mexico to reduce migration and drug trafficking into the U.S.

Sixty percent of Californians, when asked, also believe that employers should prioritize hiring Americans over immigrants when jobs are scarce, mirroring the opinions of the national sample.

“Looking at these numbers, what it tells me, is that overall, Americans, and Californians…feel the situation at the border is a problem,” Newall said. “But at the same time, I think this also shows how people’s own views of immigration and immigrants can be multifaceted. Just because they want stronger enforcement doesn’t meant they aren’t in favor of additional reforms.”

As an example, Newall cited responses to a question asking if anyone living in the U.S. without legal permission should be able to follow a pathway to U.S. citizenship: A majority of respondents, including 64% of Californians, and 61% of the national sample, agreed.

One point that stuck out to Levy was the response to a statement asking if “immigrants are more likely to commit crimes or be incarcerated than the U.S.-born population.” Only 21% of Californians (and 22% of the national sample) agreed.

That response tells him that “Trumpian rhetoric” regarding immigrants didn’t necessarily stick among the general public.

Digging deeper into party-line responses, however, the split was more stark. Among the poll’s national sampling, 41% of Republicans agreed that immigrants were more likely to commit crimes, versus only 9% of Democrats. (Thirty-nine percent of Republicans disagreed with that statement, versus 81% of Democrats.)

Levy has observed a decided “pro-immigrant” shift in public opinion over the last decade, despite an increase in nativist rhetoric — such as former President Donald Trump’s infamous assertions that Mexican immigrants are “bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists.”

Californians, accordingly, found little common ground with Trump’s immigration policies. Only 18% of Californians surveyed approved of the former administration policies. In contrast, 56% of Californians support President Joe Biden’s policies, while 45% support the state-level policies of Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Vice President, and former California Senator, Kamala Harris has a plurality of support from Californians, with 49% approving of her stances on immigration.

That the majority didn’t agree with the idea that migrants are committing more crimes than Americans despite inflammatory rhetoric, he said, seems like a positive.

“That might be my own bias,” Levy admitted. “But regardless of what you think about immigration, it’s probably good if people are making up their minds for themselves, and not simply trusting whatever partisan leaders are saying.”