Support among Latinos for border wall ticks up: Survey

Hispanics are inching toward more conservative positions on border management, though they remain supportive of asylum and a path to citizenship for immigrants lacking permanent legal status, according to an Ipsos/Telemundo poll of Hispanic adults released this week.

Hispanics also view President Biden as less engaged and less representative of their interests than the Democratic Party as a whole.

According to the poll, 65 percent of survey respondents said they support a path to citizenship for all undocumented immigrants, and 64 percent support giving the president the authority to “shut down” the border if too many migrants show up at once.

President Biden has called on Congress to give him that authority, shifting right on an issue that’s dogged him throughout his presidency. The failed bipartisan Senate border deal would have given him the authority to stop processing asylum claims once certain daily migration thresholds were surpassed.

In March, 42 percent of the poll’s respondents said they would support construction of a wall or fence along the entire U.S.-Mexico border, up from 30 percent of respondents in December of 2021.

Similarly, 38 percent of respondents in March said they would support “sending all undocumented immigrants in the U.S. back to their countries of origin,” up from 28 percent in December of 2021.

The overlap between respondents who support a path to citizenship and respondents who support mass deportations — within the poll’s margin of error — is indicative of both the divisiveness of the issue among Hispanics and the confusing nature of border and immigration policy.

The poll found that Hispanics prioritize immigration reform over border security — 70 percent of respondents said reforming the immigration system is very or the most important, compared to 62 percent who said the same about border security.

Yet the top issue for Hispanics remains the economy, as has historically been the case.

Inflation and the supply chain were rated as the most or very important priority by 79 percent of respondents, while jobs were rated similarly by 71 percent of respondents.

The issues’ bearing on the presidential race seems up in the air.

Of the eligible voters in the survey, 31 percent said they’re planning to vote for Biden, 28 percent for former President Trump, 11 percent for someone else, and 28 percent were undecided.

The statistical tie comes despite Biden’s significant advantage in favorability: 41 percent of respondents view him favorably and 47 percent unfavorably, while 32 percent view Trump favorably and 56 percent unfavorably.

Trump outscores Biden on key issues. He’s seen as good for the economy by 42 percent of respondents, while Biden is favored on the economy by 20 percent.

On crime and public safety, Trump is favored by 31 percent, versus 20 percent for Biden. On immigration, Trump leads Biden with 29 percent of respondents rating him as “good on immigration” to only 22 percent choosing the incumbent.

Biden, however, leads Trump by 28 percent to 23 percent on being good for democracy, by 30 percent to 21 percent on abortion, and 25 percent of respondents said Biden shares their values, compared to 19 percent who said the same about Trump.

Trump is also seen as aloof — or worse — toward Hispanics in comparison to Biden.

Only 14 percent of respondents said Trump cares about Hispanics, while 31 percent said Biden cares; 33 percent of respondents said Trump takes Hispanics for granted, while 15 percent said the same of Biden.

Both candidates are in the same ballpark when it comes to representation. Trump is seen as representative of “people like you” by 24 percent of respondents, while Biden was assessed as representative by 29 percent.

Biden trails his own Democratic Party by that measure: 36 percent of respondents said the party represents people like them, 34 percent said the party cares about Hispanics, and 16 percent said the party takes Hispanics for granted.

Trump, on the other hand, leads his party on representation: Only 16 percent of respondents said the GOP represents people like them.

But Trump and the GOP are statistically tied on perception of attitudes toward Hispanics — 12 percent said the party cares about them, and 29 percent said Republicans take them for granted.

The poll was conducted online or on loaned tablets among 1,012 Hispanic adults sampled nationwide in English and Spanish, with a reported margin of error of 3.6 percentage points at a 95 percent confidence level.