25.6% of all respondents including 26.1% of Independents and 48.5% of Republicans agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that “If the government fails to carry out mass deportations and restrict legal migration, then Americans should boycott businesses that employ migrants to encourage them to self-deport.”
30% of Republicans and 19.1% of Independents report that they have noticed more foreigners since 2020 and that it has affected them negatively or very negatively.
About a half of all white voters support encouraging illegal migrants to voluntarily remigrate, with about a quarter support encouraging legal migrants to voluntarily remigrate.
About 40% of all respondents are willing to drive or pay at least a little bit more to boycott a business that supports foreign labor.
By David M. Zsutty
With the government faltering on mass deportations, it may be prudent to explore peaceful and legal ways that Americans can encourage migrants to self-deport. One such way is by boycotting businesses that employ and encourage migration.
Patriot Pledge has developed a web browser map which uses federal public records to grade businesses based on whether they: 1. fail to use E-Verify to check whether their employees have a legal right to work, and 2. sponsor an unusually high amount of migrant work visas compared to other businesses in their area. Businesses are ranked as Good, Watchlist, or Critical. They also hope to expand into a smart phone app.
Patriot Pledge inspired us to conduct a poll exploring the feasibility of boycotting businesses promoting migration. We polled 847 respondents who are politically and demographically representative of white, non-Hispanic American registered voters from September 24 to October 10, 2026, and our margin of error was plus or minus 3%.
Introduction
We began by asking respondents whether they had noticed a substantial increase in the number of foreigners in various places since 2020, followed by if and how it has affected their quality of life:
| Q.1 Compared to about 2020, have you noticed a substantial increase in the number of legal and/or illegal foreigners in the following places? Check all that apply, if none check none. | ||||
| All Respondents | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Your neighborhood | 21.8% | 7.0% | 22.6% | 33.9% |
| Work | 10.4% | 3.1% | 14.2% | 13.4% |
| School | 8.5% | 1.9% | 11.5% | 11.8% |
| Commute | 14.9% | 3.1% | 18.0% | 22.0% |
| Shopping/errands | 38.8% | 10.9% | 39.5% | 61.3% |
| Recreation | 20.8% | 5.0% | 23.8% | 31.6% |
| Other | 5.3% | 0.0% | 6.5% | 8.6% |
| None | 54.1% | 83.3% | 52.5% | 30.7% |
| Q.2 If you have noticed an increase in the number of legal and/or illegal foreigners in your daily life, how has this affected your quality of life? | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Very negatively | 3.9% | 0.0% | 4.2% | 7.0% |
| Negatively | 13.8% | 1.2% | 14.9% | 23.0% |
| Neutrally | 26.4% | 12.4% | 28.7% | 37.1% |
| Positively | 3.3% | 5.8% | 1.5% | 2.2% |
| Very positively | 0.7% | 1.6% | 0.4% | 0.3% |
| I have not noticed an increase in foreigners | 51.8% | 79.1% | 50.2% | 30.4% |
There was a strong correlation between noticing foreigners and party affiliation. But when we broke down the results by whether respondents were rural, suburban, or rural, the differences were negligible aside from 16.1% of ruralites, 21.7% of suburbanites, and 31.4% of urbanites noticing more foreigners in their neighborhoods. This strongly suggests an intentional or subconscious bias among respondents in noticing foreigners based on ideology, even before considering whether that is a positive or negative thing.
And while the 30% of Republicans and 19.1% of Independents report that they have noticed more foreigners since 2020 and that it has affected them negatively or very negatively were outnumbered by those who said it has affected them neutrally, almost none have claimed that it has affected them positively.
We next asked respondents their opinion of the following post by Bo French which ignited a debate on immigration on X:
| Q.3 On September 13, 2026, Bo French who is running for a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission posted the following on X: | ||||
| Which of the following best describes your opinion on Bo French’s sentiments expressed in this post? | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Strongly agree | 8.5% | 0.0% | 8.8% | 16.8% |
| Agree | 13.8% | 1.6% | 9.6% | 29.9% |
| Neutral | 16.0% | 3.5% | 19.2% | 25.0% |
| Disagree | 20.2% | 12.8% | 26.7% | 22.8% |
| Strongly disagree | 42.4% | 79.1% | 36.7% | 10.4% |
| I don’t know | 7.6% | 3.1% | 7.9% | 11.9% |
While more respondents disagreed than agreed with Bo French’s sentiments, the 46.7% of Republicans who agreed or strongly agreed outnumbered the 33.2% who disagreed or strongly disagreed.
Remigration/Mass Deportations
We next explored respondents’ views on the pace of mass deportations and on voluntary remigration:
| Q.4 The Trump administration promised mass deportations. Should the pace of mass deportations: | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Greatly increase | 16.8% | 1.9% | 13.4% | 32.3% |
| Increase | 16.6% | 1.2% | 16.1% | 30.4% |
| Stay about the same | 24.1% | 13.6% | 28.7% | 29.7% |
| I oppose deportations | 35.3% | 76.4% | 31.0% | 3.5% |
| Neutral/I don’t know | 7.2% | 7.0% | 10.7% | 4.2% |
| Q.5 What is your opinion on encouraging foreigners illegally residing in America to voluntarily remigrate? | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Strongly support | 27.9% | 2.3% | 25.7% | 51.8% |
| Support | 28.5% | 21.7% | 30.7% | 32.9% |
| Neutral | 18.1% | 30.2% | 21.1% | 5.1% |
| Oppose | 10.0% | 20.2% | 8.8% | 2.2% |
| Strongly oppose | 10.2% | 17.4% | 8.4% | 4.8% |
| I don’t know | 5.4% | 8.1% | 5.4% | 3.2% |
| Q.6 What is your opinion on encouraging foreigners legally residing in America such as H-1B visa holders, green card holders, foreign students, and recently naturalized citizens to voluntarily remigrate? | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Strongly support | 12.3% | 7.8% | 11.5% | 17.3% |
| Support | 13.6% | 4.7% | 14.2% | 19.8% |
| Neutral | 18.4% | 7.0% | 20.7% | 26.5% |
| Oppose | 24.6% | 27.1% | 26.4% | 21.1% |
| Strongly oppose | 28.1% | 50.4% | 25.3% | 11.2% |
| I don’t know | 3.1% | 3.1% | 1.9% | 4.2% |
There was a clear partisan trend again on mass deportations, along with a continuation of respondents being tough on illegal migration but softer on legal migration.
54.4% of all respondents including 84.7% of Republicans, 56.4% of Independents, and even 24% of Democrats support or strongly support encouraging illegal migrants to voluntarily remigrate. Those numbers were respectively 25.9%, 37.1%, 25.7%, and 12.5% for encouraging legal migrants to self deport.
Most importantly, 25.6% of all respondents, including 26.1% of Independents and 48.5% of Republicans agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that “If the government fails to carry out mass deportations and restrict legal migration, then Americans should boycott businesses that employ migrants to encourage them to self-deport.”
| Q.7 Which of the following best describes your opinion of this statement: | ||||
| If the government fails to carry out mass deportations and restrict legal migration, then Americans should boycott businesses that employ migrants to encourage them to self-deport. | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Strongly agree | 9.4% | 0.8% | 9.4% | 18.1% |
| Agree | 16.2% | 1.2% | 15.7% | 30.4% |
| Neutral | 15.3% | 4.3% | 18.1% | 24.1% |
| Disagree | 21.8% | 21.9% | 24.4% | 22.1% |
| Strongly disagree | 34.5% | 71.9% | 32.3% | 5.4% |
| I don’t know | 2.7% | 0.8% | 2.8% | 4.7% |
Patriot Pledge
We next turned to Patriot Pledge as a solution for boycotting migrant businesses. We explored whether respondents would be interested in a smart phone app or web browser map which would allow them to check if a business uses E-Verify, sponsors a large number of migrant work visas compared to other businesses in the local area, and to choose American gas stations in light of the fact that over half of them are foreign-owned:
| Q.8 E-Verify is a free web-based system provided by the government that allows employers to check the immigration status of their employees. Each check takes about 5-10 minutes. It is mandatory for certain types of employers in 24 states, but not all businesses and states. | ||||
| Would you be interested in if there was an easy way, such as a smart phone app or web browser map, to check if a business uses E-Verify? | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Very interested | 18.5% | 5.4% | 19.2% | 29.7% |
| Interested | 19.5% | 8.5% | 14.6% | 32.6% |
| Slightly interested | 16.1% | 13.2% | 17.2% | 17.6% |
| Not interested | 45.9% | 72.9% | 49.0% | 20.1% |
| Q.9 The H-1B is a visa that allows United States employers to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations. It is the largest visa category in the United States in terms of guest worker numbers. A “specialty occupation” requires the application of specialized knowledge and a bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience. | ||||
| The H-1B program has a congressional cap of 85,000 approvals, but that cap has been exceeded for every year of the program’s existence. About 74.9% of H-1B visas are awarded to Indian nationals, and 12.1% to Chinese nationals. | ||||
| Critics of the H-1B program claim that it is abused to drive down wages and replace native born workers, especially in the tech sector. | ||||
| Would you be interested in if there was an easy way, such as a smart phone app or web browser map, to check how intensely a business intensely sponsors H-1B and other migrant work visas compared to other businesses in the local area? | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Very interested | 16.8% | 3.9% | 20.3% | 24.9% |
| Interested | 18.4% | 7.4% | 11.5% | 33.2% |
| Slightly interested | 19.6% | 17.8% | 21.8% | 19.2% |
| Not interested | 45.2% | 70.9% | 46.4% | 22.7% |
| Q.10 Over 50% of gas stations in America are owned by foreigners. Would you be interested in if there was an easy way, such as a smart phone app or web browser map, to choose American-owned gas stations? | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Very interested | 17.1% | 2.7% | 16.5% | 29.7% |
| Interested | 14.3% | 3.9% | 15.3% | 22.4% |
| Slightly interested | 9.8% | 3.9% | 10.0% | 14.4% |
| Not interested | 58.8% | 89.5% | 58.2% | 33.5% |
Interestingly, despite being relatively new 2% of all respondents reported having heard of Patriot Pledge (https://patriotpledge.us) and another 2.5% that they may have heard of it.
Follow-Through
Supporting an idea and actually following through with it are two very separate things. Thus, we next gauged just how far respondents would go in boycotting businesses that promote migration. We measured their willingness in terms of time and money. We also categorized purchases as daily, weekly, monthly, and annual.
| Q.13 For daily purchases, such as buying lunch or coffee, how much further would you be willing to drive to avoid a business that does not use E-Verify, or that sponsors a high number of migrant work visas? | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| 1 minute | 6.1% | 4.7% | 5.0% | 8.6% |
| 3 minutes | 6.5% | 3.9% | 4.2% | 10.5% |
| 5 minutes | 15.0% | 3.1% | 13.4% | 26.5% |
| 10 minutes | 14.3% | 2.3% | 14.6% | 24.3% |
| Does not apply | 58.1% | 86.0% | 62.8% | 30.0% |
| Q.14 For weekly purchases, such as buying groceries or gasoline, how much further would you be willing to drive to avoid a business that does not use E-Verify, or that sponsors a high number of migrant work visas? | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| 1 minute | 5.4% | 3.9% | 6.1% | 6.4% |
| 3 minutes | 5.1% | 4.3% | 2.7% | 7.7% |
| 5 minutes | 11.6% | 2.3% | 10.3% | 20.8% |
| 10 minutes | 21.1% | 3.9% | 21.1% | 35.8% |
| Does not apply | 56.8% | 85.7% | 59.8% | 29.4% |
| Q.15 For monthly purchases, such as going to the barber or hair salon, how much further would you be willing to drive to avoid a business that does not use E-Verify, or that sponsors a high number of migrant work visas? | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| 5 minutes | 9.8% | 4.7% | 9.2% | 15.0% |
| 10 minutes | 9.0% | 3.1% | 9.2% | 13.4% |
| 15 minutes | 7.3% | 1.6% | 5.7% | 13.7% |
| 20 minutes | 14.6% | 2.3% | 15.7% | 24.3% |
| Does not apply | 59.3% | 88.4% | 60.2% | 33.5% |
| Q.16 For annual or less frequent purchases, such as cars or Christmas shopping, how much further would you be willing to drive to avoid a business that does not use E-Verify, or that sponsors a high number of migrant work visas? | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| 5 minutes | 7.8% | 4.3% | 8.0% | 10.9% |
| 10 minutes | 5.8% | 2.7% | 5.7% | 8.6% |
| 15 minutes | 6.1% | 1.9% | 6.9% | 8.9% |
| 20 minutes | 23.8% | 4.3% | 22.2% | 41.9% |
| Does not apply | 56.4% | 86.8% | 57.1% | 29.7% |
| Q.17 For daily purchases, such as buying lunch or coffee, how much more would you be willing to pay to avoid a business that does not use E-Verify, or that sponsors a high number of migrant work visas? | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| 5% | 18.3% | 5.0% | 17.2% | 30.4% |
| 10% | 11.7% | 3.1% | 11.5% | 19.2% |
| 15% | 2.1% | 0.8% | 2.3% | 3.2% |
| 20% | 4.8% | 0.8% | 5.4% | 8.0% |
| Does not apply | 63.0% | 90.3% | 63.6% | 39.3% |
| Q.18 For weekly purchases, such as buying groceries or gasoline, how much more would you be willing to pay to avoid a business that does not use E-Verify, or that sponsors a high number of migrant work visas? | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| 5% | 18.7% | 4.3% | 16.1% | 32.6% |
| 10% | 11.5% | 3.5% | 11.1% | 18.5% |
| 15% | 2.8% | 0.4% | 4.2% | 3.8% |
| 20% | 4.0% | 1.2% | 3.8% | 6.7% |
| Does not apply | 63.0% | 90.7% | 64.8% | 38.3% |
| Q.19 For monthly purchases, such as going to the barber or hair salon, how much more would you be willing to pay to avoid a business that does not use E-Verify, or that sponsors a high number of migrant work visas? | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| 5% | 15.1% | 3.5% | 14.9% | 24.9% |
| 10% | 11.3% | 2.7% | 9.6% | 20.1% |
| 15% | 3.8% | 1.2% | 3.1% | 6.7% |
| 20% | 5.7% | 0.8% | 6.5% | 9.3% |
| Does not apply | 64.1% | 91.9% | 65.9% | 39.0% |
| Q.20 For annual or less frequent purchases, such as cars or Christmas shopping, how much more would you be willing to pay to avoid a business that does not use E-Verify, or that sponsors a high number of migrant visas? | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| 5% | 16.8% | 4.3% | 18.0% | 26.5% |
| 10% | 12.5% | 2.7% | 11.5% | 21.7% |
| 15% | 3.9% | 1.6% | 3.1% | 6.4% |
| 20% | 5.0% | 0.8% | 5.7% | 8.0% |
| Does not apply | 61.9% | 90.7% | 61.7% | 37.4% |
We found the highest will power for following through among Millennials and Gen X, with the lowest support among Zoomers and Boomers. It is unclear how much of this difference is driven by ability, opportunity, will power, or ideology.
Holders of post-graduate degrees are the least likely to support or follow through with a migrant boycott, those with only some college or two years degrees the most likely, and those with four-year college degrees or high school or less are in the middle.
We did not find significant difference between male and female respondents, nor between rural, suburban, or urban respondents.
Interestingly, respondents were generally more willing to drive further than pay more. Willingness to pay or drive at least a little bit more hovered around 40% of all respondents depending on the question.
How susceptible a particular business is to such a boycott depends on its profit margins and the demographics of its customers. Given how whites account for about 70% of consumer spending in the US, that about 40% of white voters would be willing to participate at least a little bit in such a boycott suggests that it would be highly successful if Patriot Pledge or another solution takes off.
Key Takeaways
- Noticing more foreigners correlates strongly with ideology and not where people actually live.
- 30% of Republicans and 19.1% of Independents report that they have noticed more foreigners since 2020 and that it has affected them negatively or very negatively.
- Almost no Republicans or Independents report noticing more foreigners in a positive way.
- Almost half of Republicans agree or strongly agree with Bo French’s post on X which was critical of Indian immigration in Texas.
- About a half of all white voters support encouraging illegal migrants to voluntarily remigrate, with about a quarter support encouraging legal migrants to voluntarily remigrate.
- 25.6% of all respondents, including 26.1% of Independents and 48.5% of Republicans, agreed or strongly agreed with the statement that “If the government fails to carry out mass deportations and restrict legal migration, then Americans should boycott businesses that employ migrants to encourage them to self-deport.”
- About 40% of all respondents are willing to drive or pay at least a little bit more to boycott a migrant business.
- Millennials and Gen X are the most likely to use Patriot Pledge or a similar solution to boycott migrant businesses.
- Holders of post-graduate degrees are the least likely to support or follow through with a migrant boycott, those with only some college or two years degrees the most likely, and those with four-year college degrees or high school or less are in the middle.
- Male, female, rural, suburban, and urban respondents do not substantially differ in their support for or stated willingness to follow through with a boycott.
- Respondents are generally more willing to drive further than pay more.