MONTGOMERY, Ala. – In a darkened ballroom in the deep-red South this summer, young Republican power players rallied younger conservative dinner guests by promising to protect them from immigrants who they insisted threatened the American way of life.
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Blue, white and red neon lights emblazoned with “250 America” loomed in a corner at the Alabama GOP Summer Dinner, as Brandon Gill, the youngest Republican in Congress, took the stage.
After watching a montage of himself sparring with Democrats at congressional hearings, Gill joked that he had a donkey in his backyard named after former President Barack Obama. The Texas representative reminded guests that he believed the country would be better off if Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota was deported. Omar immigrated from Somalia as a child.
His enthusiastic audience, which included younger male voters, aided President Donald Trump in winning his second term in 2024. They were urged at the July 31 event to turn out to vote during November’s congressional midterm elections. But experts say the impact they will have on the midterms is uncertain, noting that the key conservative group is divided over the war in Iran and its domestic economic toll.
Young male conservatives are, however, remarkably united on immigration. Gill homed in on that theme, warning that if Democrats take power again, immigrants will “flood our country with illegal aliens, murdering and raping and pillaging our people, suppressing American wages, taking American jobs.”
Rebecka Eriksdotter Pieder for USN&WR
Merchandise at the Turning Point USA booth at the Alabama GOP Summer Dinner.
For Carder Lashley, chair of the Tallapoosa County Young Republicans, Gill was talking about “the stuff that really matters.”
He and other young conservatives are convinced that many immigrants in the U.S. are driving up costs and competing with them for jobs and resources.
A 2026 youth poll from the Center for Information & Research on Civic Engagement and Learning (CIRCLE) at Tufts University found that while young Republicans rank cost of living as a top priority, immigration remains high on the list.
At the Alabama GOP dinner, conservative influencer Brilyn Hollyhand, a 20-year-old who has branded himself as a mouthpiece for Gen Z Republicans, didn’t mention the cost of living. Instead, he said immigrants are robbing young people of their future.
“Look around tonight,” he said. “The America you know and love is under attack.”
He described a looming invasion of immigrants who “chant death to America while they kill America’s youth.”
That rhetoric has become commonplace among politically active young Republicans.
“I cannot stress enough how hardline these guys I spoke with were when it comes to immigration,” said Charlie Sabgir, a director at the Young Men’s Research Project, which investigates political and social trends among young men. He has interviewed dozens of them who lean ideologically conservative.
Sabgir said that while less politically engaged young men who voted for Trump in 2024 may not favor giving ICE unchecked power, more politically active and ideological young conservatives consistently cite immigration and mass deportations as top priorities.
Trump campaigned on a promise to stop what he considered a far too permissive Biden immigration agenda, and he followed through on these commitments.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has conducted a mass-deportation campaign since Trump took office in January 2025. At least 540,000 people were deported during the first year of his presidency, according to the Brookings Institution. According to a recent analysis by the think tank, net migration was negative in 2025 for the first time in half a century, meaning more people left the country than entered.
Since 2024, Trump’s approval rating has plummeted among young voters, according to Erin Covey, U.S. House analyst for The Cook Political Report. The president’s approval among voters ages 18 to 29 stands at 32%, down from 44% in March 2025.
The cost of living, tied to the war in Iran, is a key contributing factor, Reuters found in a separate survey.
Young people are less likely to vote based on built-in party loyalty, Covey said. In 2024, that worked in Trump’s favor. But that same lack of loyalty is also what makes the youth vote hard to count on heading into the midterms.
But the Trump administration’s immigration policies are much more popular than its economic policies, Covey said.
Caleb Ellmore, chair of Young Americans for Freedom chapter at the University of Alabama, voted for Trump and praised the president’s conservative market policies, the way he “projects strength” and his “courage” in following through on promises.
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Ellmore cited stronger border security as one of the most important issues for young conservatives.
“They want less immigration,” he said. “In some cases, reverse immigration.”
After an Afghan national was accused of fatally shooting a National Guard member last November, Trump called for reverse migration of immigrants to their original countries, saying it was the only way to “fully cure this situation.” He also suggested he could denaturalize some U.S. citizens.
Despite support among young conservatives for Trump’s immigration stance, Sabgir said many young voters feel betrayed by his decision to go to war with Iran.
“Something I just heard repeatedly is that Iran is a distraction from his domestic agenda and at the center of his domestic agenda should be immigration and following through on mass deportations,” he said.
CIRCLE’s 2026 Election Youth Survey identified Maine, Michigan, Ohio and Virginia as states where the youth vote could decide contentious House and Senate races.
Immigration has been a key political issue in the Michigan Senate race. While the Democratic candidate, Abdul El-Sayed, has called for ICE to be abolished, Republican candidate Mike Rogers has defended the Trump administration’s immigration strategy.
Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, held by Republican Tom Barrett and rated a toss-up, may be an even sharper test. Young voters, Covey said, particularly college-age students near Michigan State University, could have a disproportionate impact on the outcome.
Ellmore, the University of Alabama student, said he felt conflicted about the immigration crackdown. While he was pleased with what he saw as the Trump administration’s success in stopping Biden-era southern U.S. border crossings, he said his Christian faith dictates it’s important to “be kind to people” and “be hospitable.”
“But there is a point where you have guests and you have people who are staying there and are really not being integrated into the system properly, not being assimilated,” he said.
At the Alabama dinner, Hollyhand unveiled Project Future Generation, a statewide youth-engagement initiative for high school students that he called a “student strike force.”
One of its tasks is to knock on doors and ensure that young people are registered to vote, including in places that have seen an “influx of out-of-state residents moving in,” Hollyhand said.
“Now, we appreciate them coming to the beauty of our Sweet Home Alabama, but we want them to check their politics at the door,” he added.
When asked about what political issues are most important to him, Eli Jett, a Project Future Generation member, said he wanted a return to civil discourse.
He said he has close friends who identify as socialists and communists and that they can debate political issues cordially – but he believes that’s rare across the country.
“We have no unity anymore,” Jett said. “We have no empathy for anyone. No respect.”
On immigration, Jett compared the U.S. to a house party and said that the government needs to act as a host in deciding who can attend.
“Sometimes you’ve got to keep them on the lawn,” he said. “I feel like only Americans should be in the house.”
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