WASHINGTON (AP) – More Americans disapprove of approving how President Joe Biden handles the sharp rise in the number of unaccompanied migrant children arriving on the US-Mexico border, and the endorsement of their efforts on a larger immigration policy it does not address other major issues, suggesting that it could be a weak point for the new administration.
A new survey 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 highest immigration priorities of Americans: 59% say providing safe treatment for unaccompanied children should be a high priority and 65% says the same about reuniting separated families in The Boundary.
Former President Donald Trump built his presidency around hardline policies that expanded and strengthened border walls, made it harder for people fleeing drug violence and other desperate circumstances in Mexico and Central America to seek asylum in the U.S. and separate immigrant families.
Biden has tried to harness political momentum on the issue by promising a more humane and orderly system, but his administration has struggled to cope with the rising number of migrants arriving at the border, especially unaccompanied children.
Overall, 40% of Americans disapprove of Biden’s treatment of children arriving on the nation’s southern border without their parents, compared to only 24% who approve of it. Thirty-five percent have no opinion.
“I don’t know how to say this politically correctly: I’m sorry, because there’s this new administration, that people feel they can come to the country,” said Mindy Kiehl, a 40-year-old real estate agent in Erie, Pennsylvania, who on the other hand approves Biden’s management of the presidency so far.
“I understand. They’re looking for shelter,” Kiehl added.
Biden said at a recent press conference that “we return the vast majority of the families that come.” But their struggles on the issue go beyond unaccompanied minors.
Only 42% of Americans say they approve of how the president handles immigration in general, and a similar percentage, 44%, say they approve of how they handle border security. Both are significantly less than 61% of Americans who say they approve of how Biden handles his job in general and do not meet the president’s rating on some other issues, including his response to the coronavirus pandemic. and management of the economy.
This gap comes despite the White House supporting the nation’s most ambitious review of the nation’s immigration system in a generation. the first day of Biden in office. However, it has stalled in Congress and Republicans and even some top Democrats say the move will be difficult.
The plan would provide an eight-year path to citizenship for the 11 million people illegally estimated in the U.S., but the survey shows that doing so is not among the public’s priority list. Only 29% of Americans in general, including 42% of Democrats and 14% of Republicans, illegally rated the priority of the legal status of the people of the country.
In addition, only one-third of Americans say allowing refugees to come to the United States or expanding “guest worker” programs should be a priority.
The gap between Biden’s overall approval rating and his treatment of immigration crosses party lines. Seventy-four percent of Democrats and 10 percent of Republicans approve of Biden’s treatment of immigration, compared to 96 percent of Democrats and 22 percent of Republicans who generally approve of it.
The difference is also found in ethnic and racial groups. Overall, 92% of black Americans, 67% of Hispanics, and 52% of white Americans say they approve of how Biden manages his work. When it comes to 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 handled immigration or any other major issues while calling what is happening on the southern U.S. border an “administrative nightmare.”
While awaiting the larger legislative package, the Democratic-controlled House has passed smaller-scale reforms that face uncertain futures in a 50-50 Senate division. Biden has also used executive action. to try to reverse many of the Trump administration’s immigration policies, but has been criticized for not doing it fast enough.
Others think it has already gone too far.
“My concern is that President Biden has made the world feel like it’s okay to come in,” said Matthew Behrs, a Trump supporter in Wisconsin.
The survey shows that many Americans view some of the main goals of the Democratic proposal as moderate priorities rather than high priorities, suggesting that Biden does not have a clear mandate on how best to proceed on the issue, which it may harm his influence in Congress.
And many want efforts to intensify enforcement to be part of the conversation: for 53%, increasing border security is a priority. 47% of Americans also say the federal government should make enforcement policies to prevent immigrants from surviving their visas as a priority.
Less than about a third say that penalizing companies that hire immigrants who live illegally in the United States and deport immigrants who live illegally in the United States should be high priorities.
The survey also finds that Americans are more likely to favor than oppose providing a way for immigrants who are illegally brought to the United States as children to stay legally, from 53% to 24%. and 22% say they are neither for nor opposed. However, only 41% consider it very important to extend legal protections to so-called Dreamers. A plan approved by the House but in anticipation of Senate action they want to do exactly that.
Biden has now assigned Vice President Kamala Harris to work with Central American countries to try to address the root causes of illegal immigration. Henes, the retiree, suggested that Biden had given Harris the problem as a way to buy himself some time, but that it hasn’t helped.
“They’re still in confusion,” Henes said. “They’re not ready to call a play.”
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The AP-NORC survey of 1,166 adults was conducted from March 26 to 29 using a sample taken from the AmeriSpeak panel based on NORC probabilities, designed to be representative of the American population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is approximately 3.6 percentage points.