Amid an unprecedented surge in illegal border crossings under President Joe Biden, a majority of Americans want to build a wall on the southern border to impede illegal entry.
Fifty-three percent of respondents in a recent Monmouth University survey support building a border wall along the Mexican frontier while 46% oppose such a move. The result marks the first time a majority of Americans have supported building the wall since Monmouth began asking the question in 2015.
Sixty-one percent of respondents, moreover, supported keeping asylum applicants in Mexico while their claims are processed. Respondents were also skeptical of the recent Senate border deal that paired foreign aid with border security reforms. Forty-seven percent said the deal was not sufficiently tough on illegal immigration, compared to 28% who said it was sufficient, and 12% who said it was too strict.
"These results illustrate why the border deal was dead on arrival. The vast majority of rank and file Republicans and many independents believe it is too soft on illegal immigration, even if they don’t know exactly what’s in the legislation," said Monmouth University Polling Institute Patrick Murray. "Senate GOP leadership could have tried to sell the bill, but that would have almost certainly been fruitless once Donald Trump weighed in against it."
Conducted Feb. 8-12, the survey questioned 902 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of +/- 4.1%.
The survey comes amid reports that Biden is considering executive actions to secure the border and curb illegal crossings in the wake of the failed Senate deal. Biden rescinded many of Trump's executive border actions, including the "Remain in Mexico" policy.
Related Story: Biden Mulls Executive Actions to Curb Illegal Border Crossings: Report
