A majority of Americans are in favor of constructing a wall at the U.S. southern border amid a surge in immigration, according to a recent Gallup poll.
The poll, conducted from Feb. 1-20, revealed that more Americans believed immigration to be the most pressing issue facing the country (28 percent) than last month (20 percent). Immigration also surpassed the government as the most cited problem after both issues were tied for the top position the past two months.
The government previously had the top spot from January through November 2023.
In the same poll, 20 percent of Americans name the government as the most important problem, followed by the economy (12 percent) and inflation (11 percent). Regarding immigration, the issue is the only one that displayed significant change in the past month. It is also the first time in five years that Gallup found it as the top issue after there was an increase in attempted border crossings by Central American migrants.
Immigration was also ranked as the main problem in July and November 2018 and July 2014.
According to the latest national Monmouth University Poll, more Americans have shown concern about immigration during President Joe Biden’s term than under the previous two administrations.
With 61 percent of Americans viewing immigration as a "serious problem," and another 23 percent seeing it as a "somewhat serious problem," 84 percent of Americans have immigration issues in the forefront of their minds.
“Illegal immigration has taken center stage as a defining issue this presidential election year. Other Monmouth polling found this to be Biden’s weakest policy area, including among his fellow Democrats,” Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute said in a statement.
Over half (53 percent) are in favor of constructing a border wall on the U.S. border with Mexico while 46 percent are against it. During the Trump administration, support for building the border wall was no higher than 44 percent and remained as low as 35 percent. When Monmouth first asked this question in September 2015, supported remained at 48 while 42 percent the previous time this question was asked in one of Monmouth’s national polls in April 2019.
In the past nine years, support for constructing a border wall increased among Republicans (from 73 percent to 86 percent) and among independents (47 percent to 58 percent) while it has declined among Democrats (31 percent to 17 percent).
The Monmouth University poll was conducted from Feb. 8-12 with a nationally representative sample of 902 adults.
Image credit: ©Getty Images/DanielIngelhart
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
