Historic Shift: Majority of Americans Back Building Border Wall

The majority of Americans support building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border for the first time in history.

Monmouth’s latest survey revealed that 53 percent now support the idea of a wall, as millions of illegal migrants continue to enter the United States illegally each year. Nearly half of the population also thought that the recent bipartisan deal on the border did not go as far as they wanted.

Monmouth explained:

Monmouth University’s latest national poll shows that public concern over illegal immigration has increased during the term of President Joe Biden. This is a significant increase from the two previous administrations. For the first time, since Monmouth began asking this question in 2015, a majority of Americans support building a border fence. Nearly half of Americans say that the bipartisan border agreement, which was blocked by the U.S. Senate early this month, is not tough on illegal immigration.

The report points out that the rise is particularly notable when compared to 2015 when Donald Trump ran for office.

The majority of Americans (53%) support building a border wall with Mexico. 46% are against it. Support for the project was as low as 35% and as high as 44% during the Trump administration.

Monmouth first asked this question in September 2015, and it was 42% when the question was last included in a Monmouth national poll (April 2019). Support for a border fence has grown by 13 points in the last nine years among Republicans and by 11 points among Independents.

More than 80 percent view illegal immigration as a serious issue.

Over 8 out of 10 Americans view illegal immigration as a serious problem (61%) or a somewhat serious issue (23%). Six in ten Americans describe illegal immigration as a serious problem. This is a significant jump compared to polls conducted at the end and mid-term of former president Donald Trump’s tenure. From 2015 to 2019, the percentage of people who thought illegal immigration was a serious problem in the United States ranged from 43% to 49%.

All partisan groups are more concerned about illegal immigration. The rise in concern is most noticeable among Republicans. From 66% in 2015 to 77% in 2019, and 91% according to the latest poll. Independents are more concerned than ever, with 58% saying this is a serious issue. This is up from 42% in 2015 and 43% in 2019. Democrats are also concerned, with 41% now expressing this concern. This is up from 26% to 33% in 2015.

The numbers bode well in another important election year, where Donald Trump could return to the White House with a promise of a crackdown unprecedented on illegal immigration.

Axios released a report earlier this month that outlined how Trump intends to use a “range” of tools to deport millions of people from the U.S. every year, from obscure laws to military funds and law enforcement officers at all levels of government.

Trump promised to do something similar in his 2016 presidential campaign but ultimately failed to deliver. If Trump succeeds in his election campaign, he will likely enact an “ultimate revenge” against the political establishment. This is unlike anything seen since Eisenhower’s Operation Wetback in which he ordered the deportation of more than one million undocumented Mexicans.