OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Whether President Joe Biden’s lax immigration and border security policies are the result of inept leadership or they are by design, they are causing a massive disruption within the country that is dangerously close to becoming explosive.
A new survey from I&I/TIPP found that almost 6 in 10 respondents want Biden to resume building former President Donald Trump’s border wall.
“The score wasn’t close: Among all respondents, 59% supported constructing a wall along our southern border, either ‘strongly’ (41%) or ‘somewhat’ (18%). Just 32% oppose the idea, either ‘strongly’ (17%) or ‘somewhat’ (15%),” said an analysis of the poll shared with the Washington Examiner on Monday.
There is significant support for a border wall among Republicans, with a massive 85% of them in favor of it. Even among Democrats, there is some support, with 43% backing the idea of a border wall.
The survey also revealed that there is backing for states to have the right to protect their international borders, and a rejection of Washington’s threats to nationalize state National Guard troops sent to Texas to assist Governor Greg Abbott in addressing the issue of illegal immigration crossing into the state, the outlet reported, adding:
The poll comes at a critical time, just a day after the Senate finally released its new comprehensive immigration bill. House leaders have already declared it DOA because they believe it will let in too many immigrants. It also spends heavily on the unrelated problems of the Ukraine and Israeli-Hamas wars.
Immigration has been nudging into the group of topics voters are most concerned about in the upcoming election. Voters have expressed opposition to Biden’s open-border policies, his dismantling of Trump’s hawkish border actions and the record number of illegal crossings that have resulted.
In addition, the survey found real concerns among both political camps that Biden’s lax policies are going to lead to civil conflict.
“War between the states? Apparently, it’s not at all far-fetched. Many Americans see illegal immigration as a make-or-break issue,” the analysis found.
Voters, regardless of their political affiliation, express concern about open conflict over illegal immigration, with 49% expressing concern and 38% not concerned. While Democrats and Republicans are more aligned on this issue, independent voters are less concerned.
“Democrats and Republicans are nearly identical in their feelings: Democrats break 54% concerned vs. 34% not concerned, while Republicans are 55% concerned, 36% not concerned,” the analysis said.
It added, “As this month’s I&I/TIPP Poll shows, Americans largely side with restricting illegal immigration flows into the country, including building a wall to keep those who would enter illegally out. But, as [University of Tennessee law professor Glenn] Reynolds notes, potentially ‘what you get looks disturbingly like the early stages of a civil war.’”
Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and other GOP leaders have said the bipartisan Senate border bill that is expected to be voted on this week will be “dead on arrival” in the lower chamber if it remains as-is, according to a report on Friday.
Just the News reported that “Democrats have reached a border deal with Senate Republicans that is apparently tied to funding for the war in Ukraine in a supplemental foreign aid package,” but that Johnson and other House leaders aren’t keen on several of the details.
“Republicans said the border is a priority and we should craft a bipartisan bill to help control the border. We did that,” wrote Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Friday on the social media platform X. “We have a deal. This weekend we will release the bill and vote next week. It’s decision time.”
But Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) cast doubt that the measure is worthy.
“Nor should it be passed until we have had adequate time to read the bill, discuss it with constituents, debate it, offer amendments, and vote on those amendments,” Lee wrote in an opinion piece for The Federalist. “There’s no universe in which those things will happen by next week.”
