Poll: Border woes dent Biden approval on immigration

WASHINGTON — More Americans disapprove than approve of how President Joe Biden is handling the sharply increasing number of unaccompanied migrant children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, and approval of his efforts on larger immigration policy falls short of other top issues — suggesting it could be a weak point for the new administration.

A new poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research also shows that solving the problem of young people at the border is among Americans’ highest immigration priorities: 59 percent say providing safe treatment of unaccompanied children when they are apprehended should be a high priority, and 65 percent say the same about reuniting families separated at the border.

Former President Donald Trump built his presidency around hard-line policies that expanded and fortified border walls, made it tougher for people fleeing drug violence and other desperate circumstances in Mexico and Central America to seek U.S. asylum and separated immigrant families.

Biden has tried to seize political momentum on the issue by promising a more humane and orderly system, but his administration has struggled to cope with rising numbers of migrants coming to the border, especially unaccompanied children.

Overall, 40 percent of Americans disapprove of Biden’s handling of children reaching the nation’s southern border without their parents, compared with just 24 percent who approve. Thirty-five percent don’t have an opinion either way.

“I don’t know how to politically correctly say this: I do feel that, because there’s this new administration, that people feel that they can come to the country,” said Mindy Kiehl, a 40-year-old real estate agent in Erie, Pa., who otherwise approves of Biden’s handling of the presidency so far.

“I get it. They’re seeking refuge,” Kiehl added. “But bringing these children, it’s not good for the children, it’s not good for the families. I don’t know how that’s going to solve the problem.”

Biden said at a recent news conference that “we’re sending back the vast majority of the families that are coming.” But his struggles on the issue go beyond unaccompanied minors.

Just 42 percent of Americans say they approve of how the president is handling immigration in general, and a similar share, 44 percent, say they approve of how he’s handling border security. Both are significantly lower than the 61 percent of Americans who say they approve of how Biden is handling his job overall and fall short of the president’s rating on some other issues, including his response to the coronavirus pandemic and managing of the economy.

That gap comes despite the White House endorsing the most ambitious overhaul of the nation’s immigration system in a generation on Biden’s first day in office. It has stalled in Congress, though, and Republicans and even some top Democrats say passage will be difficult.

The plan would provide an eight-year path to citizenship for the estimated 11 million people in the U.S. illegally, but the poll shows doing so isn’t high on the public’s priority list. Only 29 percent of Americans overall, including 42 percent of Democrats and 14 percent of Republicans, called legal status for people in the country illegally a high priority.