A majority of Americans for the first time support building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a poll released Monday, amid the immigration crisis on the border.
Respondents in a poll from Monmouth University favored building the wall by a margin of 53 percent to 46 percent. It is the first time a Monmouth poll has found majority support for the measure since the group began surveying respondents on it in September 2015. Support at the time was 48 percent. In the past nine years, support for the wall has grown among Republicans and independents but fallen among Democrats.
Also in the poll, 84 percent of respondents said the issue of illegal immigration was somewhat serious or very serious. Sixty-one percent said migrants seeking asylum should wait in Mexico while authorities adjudicate their claims, while 35 percent said they should be allowed in the United States. Additionally, a plurality, 47 percent, said the Senate's bipartisan border deal from weeks ago was not tough enough on illegal immigration—though 45 percent said they had no opinion on whether they favored or opposed it, compared with 33 percent who were against it and 23 percent who supported it.
The poll queried 902 adults and had a margin of error of 4.1 percent. Researchers conducted it between Feb. 8 and Feb. 12.
As support for the wall hit a new high Monday, President Joe Biden's approval on immigration hit a new low days before. A Gallup poll from Friday put his approval rating on that issue at 28 percent, the lowest of his term in that organization's polling.