© Provided by Washington Examiner U.S. residents disagree with how the Biden administration is responding to the surge of children and adults illegally coming across the U.S.-Mexico border, according to new polling.
Just 43% of adults approve of how President Joe Biden is handling the border and immigration issues, compared to 54% who do not approve of his administration's actions since January. Immigration was among Biden's lowest-rated issues as of April 29 through May 3, according to findings released Monday by the Associated Press-NORC at the University of Chicago.
A separate nationwide Harvard-Harris poll taken between April 27-29 found 80% of registered voters think the "current surge in illegal immigrants at the border" constitutes a crisis that needs to be addressed immediately, compared to 20% who believe the immigration system can handle it. Four in five people said illegal immigration, which includes both unlawful entry into the country at the border and visa overstays, is a "serious" issue for the country right now, compared to 20% who said it was not too serious or not serious at all.
More than three in four voters, 77%, want Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris to visit the southern border immediately.
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Since January, record-high numbers of unaccompanied children have arrived at the border, while families and adults are also coming up from Central America at levels that constitute 15-year highs. While the Biden administration has rebutted accusations that his lenient immigration policies prompted the surge, 59% of respondents said the "flood" of children is the Biden administration's fault, not the Trump administration's. Nearly two in three people think Biden's policies on immigration have encouraged more immigration, rather than the 35% who said it had discouraged it.
In March 2020, the Trump administration announced anyone who came across the southern border would be sent back to their home country. Illegal border crossers, including asylum-seekers, are normally taken into custody and possibly referred for prosecution because illegal entry is a misdemeanor the first time and a felony the second time, but the government did not want to hold immigrants in small spaces amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Biden administration, in February, stopped turning away children who come over the border without their parents.
Voters overwhelmingly, 68%, agreed with the Trump policy and thought that people who cross illegally from Mexico ought to be turned back. Thirty-two percent said people should be released into the United States to await their day in immigration court, which would likely be delayed for years due to the 1.1 million-case backlog.
Voters were more divided on other aspects of immigration. Just over half, 54%, said Biden's border policies were increasing the flow of drugs and crimes to the U.S., whereas 46% said his policies were treating people more humanely. Similarly, 54% said Biden was keeping children in humane conditions, compared to 46% who thought they were being held in overcrowded, inhumane conditions. The Biden administration has worked to get children to temporary childcare facilities rather than holding them for days or weeks in jail-like Border Patrol facilities on the border, as the Trump administration had done.
Fifty-two percent approved of Biden's handling of immigration issues versus 48% who did not.
The survey was conducted among 1,872 registered voters by the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University and The Harris Poll.
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The AP-NORC poll included 1,842 adults who were primarily surveyed online and had a 3.2 point margin of error. Forty-six percent of respondents were Democrats, 37% were Republicans, 17% were independent, and the remainder declined to answer or did not affiliate with a party.
Tags: News, Polls, Border Crisis, Biden Administration
Original Author: Anna Giaritelli
Original Location: Voters unhappy with Biden handling of border crisis, polls reveal