WASHINGTON (AP) – More Americans disapprove of than approve of President Joe Biden’s handling of the rapidly increasing number of unaccompanied migrant children arriving at the US-Mexico border, and endorsing its efforts towards greater immigration policy falls short on other top issues – suggesting it could be a weakness for the new administration.
A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research also shows that solving the problem of young people at the border is one of the top immigration priorities of Americans: 59% say providing safe treatment for unaccompanied children when detained should be a high priority, and 65% say the same about reuniting families who are separated across the border.
Former President Donald Trump has built his presidency around a hard-line policy that expanded and strengthened the border walls, made it more difficult for people fleeing drug violence and other desperate circumstances in Mexico and Central America to apply for U.S. asylum and separated immigrant families.
Biden has sought to grab the political momentum on the issue by promising a more humane and orderly system, but his government is struggling to cope with the increasing number of migrants coming to the border, especially unaccompanied children.
Overall, 40% of Americans disapprove of Biden’s treatment of children who reach the southern border of the country without their parents, compared with only 24% who agree. Thirty-five percent have no opinion anyway.
“I don’t know how to say this politically correct: I feel that because there is a new government, people feel like they can come to the country,” said Mindy Kiehl, a 40-year-old real estate agent in Erie, Pennsylvania, which otherwise agrees with Biden’s handling of the presidency thus far.
“I see. They’re taking refuge,” added Kiehl. “But taking these kids along isn’t good for the kids, it’s not good for the families. I don’t know how that will solve the problem.”
Biden said at a recent press conference that “we are returning the vast majority of families who come back.” But his fight on this issue goes beyond unaccompanied minors.
Only 42% of Americans say they agree with the way the president handles immigration in general, and a similar share, 44%, say they agree with the way he handles border security. Both are significantly lower than the 61% of Americans who say they approve of how Biden approaches his work in general and are lagging behind in the president’s assessment on a number of other issues, including his response to the coronavirus pandemic. and management of the economy.
That gap arises despite the White House endorsing the most ambitious overhaul of the nation’s immigration system in a generation on Biden’s first day of work. However, it has stalled in Congress, and Republicans and even some prominent Democrats say the passage will be difficult.
The plan would provide an eight-year path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million people living illegally in the US, but the poll shows that this is not high on the public’s priority list. Only 29% of Americans in general, including 42% of Democrats and 14% of Republicans, called the legal status of people in the country illegal a high priority.
In addition, only a third of Americans say admitting refugees to the US or expanding “guest worker” programs should be a high priority.
The gap between Biden’s general approval rating and his handling of immigration crosses party lines. Seventy-four percent of Democrats and 10% of Republicans approve Biden’s approach to immigration, compared with 96% of Democrats and 22% of Republicans generally approving it.
The difference also occurs in racial and ethnic groups. Overall, 92% of Black Americans, 67% of Hispanics, and 52% of White Americans say they agree with how Biden approaches his work. In terms of immigration, 74% of Black Americans, but only 50% of Hispanics and 34% of White Americans, say they approve.
Jack Henes, a retiree in Sebastian, Florida, said Biden has not dealt with immigration and some other hot-button issues, calling what is happening on the US southern border an “administrative nightmare.”
In anticipation of the larger legislative package, the Democrat-controlled House has enacted small-scale reforms that face an uncertain future in a 50-50 senate split. Biden has also used executive actions to try to reverse the Trump administration’s immigration policy, but has been criticized for not doing it fast enough.
Others think he has already gone too far.
“My concern is that President Biden has made the world feel it’s okay to just come in,” said Matthew Behrs, a Trump supporter in Wisconsin.
The poll found that many Americans view some of the Democratic proposal’s main goals as moderate, rather than high, priorities, suggesting that Biden does not have a clear mandate for how best to address the issue, thus allowing his influence on Congress. is harmed.
And many want efforts to strengthen enforcement to be part of the conversation: For 53%, increasing border security is a high priority. Some 47% of Americans also say that the federal government must make stricter policies to keep immigrants from exceeding their visas a high priority.
Less, about a third, say that penalizing companies that employ illegal immigrants residing in the US and deporting immigrants residing illegally in the US should be a high priority.
The poll also shows that Americans are more in favor than against providing a way for immigrants who have been brought to the US illegally as children to reside legally, 53% to 24%, with 22% saying they are neither for nor against . Yet only 41% consider granting legal protection to so-called Dreamers a high priority. A plan approved by the House but just that is being tried pending action in the Senate.
Biden has now assigned Vice President Kamala Harris to work with Central American countries to address the root causes of illegal immigration. Henes, the retiree, suggested that Biden gave the problem to Harris as a way to buy some time, but it didn’t help.
“They’re still in the group,” Henes said. “They are not ready to name a play.”
The AP-NORC survey of 1,166 adults was conducted March 26-29 using a sample of NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak panel, which is designed to be representative of the US population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.