“... care a hell of a lot more about this ‘great plan’ that Trump promised in 2016 than they care about people streaming over the border.”
Definitely, especially with so many baby boomers realizing so many age-related health issues. DH and I noticed that with our mothers, who had been pretty conservative through most of their lives. The older they got, the more they expected Uncle Sugar to take care of them. I guess it’s natural; I don’t know.
In any case, that personal desperation will shove immigration to the back burner come election day.
There are more people who would rather live as an ethnic minority in a socialist country but have health care, than there are swing voters in crucial electoral states; the question is to what degree these overlap. Someone facing bankruptcy to keep themselves or their loved one alive for another 15 years simply does not generally care anywhere nearly as much about any other issue. People can pontificate all they want about ideological purity, but winning elections are all about self-interest.
No viable health care plan = Harris/Buttgeig 2020, at which point any hope of ever doing something about the border is gone.