Border walls are more popular than ever

Recent polls have shown a majority support building a wall along the southern border.

Late last year, a Quinnipiac University/Fox News poll found 52 to 57 percent support its construction. A Monmouth University poll on Monday showed his approval rating at 53 percent.

This comes after support for the wall was almost at a standstill in the 1930s during the Donald Trump era, as President Trump promoted the construction of a wall and famously shut down the government because of the wall. Thing.

It’s likely that Trump’s presidency actually decreased support for the wall, as many people associated the wall with his unpopular brand. (His popularity declined during his presidential term, but he used to be a bit more popular.)

What appears to have happened is that President Trump’s departure coincided with record migrant encounters at the border and the level of concern about the situation. A Gallup poll released Tuesday found 55% of Americans labeled illegal immigrants a “grave threat,” the highest in 20 years — pushing support to new highs.

The polls listed above show support for the wall is at its highest since President Trump began his campaign in 2016. Quinnipiac’s approval rating fell to 47% last month, but it was still higher than at any point before last fall.

This number was clearly unprecedented in other polls even before Trump’s rise to politics.

The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research archives contain border wall (or border fence) voting records dating back to the early 1990s. In the first polls in 1993, approval ratings were below 30 percent, with two-thirds of Americans disapproving.

Few polls were conducted between then and Trump’s inauguration. His approval rating was usually in the 40% range, but Fox News polls showed that his approval rating sometimes reached over 50%. It appears to have been the only poll to do so. And the previous high was 53 percent (in 2010), just behind October’s 57 percent and his December figure of 54 percent.

The changes since President Trump’s term are especially striking when digging into independents.

At the wall’s lowest point in September 2017, Monmouth showed independents opposed the wall 59 percent to 35 percent. Those numbers have now reversed, with independents supporting it 58-40.

Support for the wall is growing, even though many Americans say they don’t think it would be particularly helpful.

According to 2019 Quinnipiac data, Americans 64-33 say a wall will not significantly reduce violent crime and 60-37 say a wall will not significantly reduce the flow of illegal drugs. According to Pew Research Center data during Trump’s presidency, only about 3 in 10 Americans thought building a wall would “significantly” reduce illegal immigration.

And it’s not clear that Americans were suddenly convinced that it would bring significant benefits. Last month’s Pew data also found that only 41% of Americans believe that significantly expanding the wall would improve the situation at the border. Many people thought it would not change much (32%) or it would get worse (14%).

But given the circumstances, Americans seem ready to try something different.