Fifty percent of voters think U.S. border security is better now than it was two years ago, an improvement of 39 percentage points since the question was last asked. They also give President Donald Trump high marks for his handling of border security and immigration amid otherwise low job ratings on the issues.
A majority of 55% approve of Trump’s job performance on border security (40% disapprove), making it his only net positive rating. Almost all Republicans (90%), a large minority of independents (44%) and a quarter of Democrats (24%) approve of his handling of the border.
He also receives a record-high rating on immigration with 47% approving (48% disapprove) and another 45% approve of his work on deportations of illegal immigrants (49% disapprove). His marks are lower on guns (41% approve), foreign policy (40%), taxes (38%), the economy (38%), tariffs (33%) and inflation (33%).
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By a 50%-22% margin, voters say border security is better today than it was two years ago. That’s a reversal from May 2023, when by 11%-51% they said it was worse.
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The shift is driven by more Republicans (+79 points) and independents (+30) saying border security has improved. Democrats were split on the subject two years ago (20% better, 21% worse), but now feel border security is worse rather than better (23% better, 36% worse).
While voters overall feel positive about the situation at the border, they feel less so about the treatment of illegal immigrants and those seeking asylum.
The largest share feels the Trump administration is being too tough both on illegal immigrants (44%) and those legally seeking asylum (46%) as opposed to not being tough enough (20% for illegal immigrants, 15% for asylum-seekers). About a third think Trump strikes the right balance with both groups.
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Three-quarters of Democrats and roughly half of independents think the administration is being too tough on illegal immigrants and asylum-seekers, while majorities of Republicans think his treatment is about right.
Overall, these results are relatively unchanged from April 2019, the most recent trend on these questions.
“These data reinforce the notion that border security and immigration are separable issues,” says Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who helps run the Fox News Poll along with Democrat Chris Anderson. “When it comes to securing the southern border, Trump’s policies are very popular. But the public response to how the administration is handling 11 million undocumented immigrants is mixed, and many are strongly opposed. If he’s to succeed politically on this front, he’ll need to message carefully.”
Voters see federal district court judges who have challenged Trump on his policies, including on the deportation of illegal immigrants, as legitimately exercising their power as part of the country’s system of checks and balances (58%) as opposed to unlawfully interfering with the president’s constitutional authority (33%).
Majorities of Democrats and independents feel the judges are within their right to challenge the president, while a majority of Republicans think they are illegally interfering.
“While Trump may feel he is on favorable ground when he is arguing about deportation and immigration with Democrats, there are obvious risks to pushing it too far,” says Anderson. “One is he is seen as doing it at the expense of the economic issues, which concern voters more than immigration. Another is ignoring the courts and losing supporters who see value in checks and balances on power.”
Voter concerns about immigration land in the middle of 10 issues, with two-thirds (66%) saying they are extremely or very concerned about the matter. Inflation (82% extremely or very concerned), political divisions (78%), healthcare (76%), government spending (73%) and a recession (72%) rank higher than immigration (66%). Two-thirds (66%) are also concerned with Iran getting nuclear weapons (66%) and the trade war with China escalating (66%). Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (61%) and the stock market (58%) rank last.
Immigration, government spending and inflation are the top issues for Republicans; for Democrats it is inflation, recession concerns and healthcare; and for independents it is inflation, recession and political divisions.
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Conducted April 18-21, under the direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News survey includes interviews with a sample of 1,104 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (127) and cellphones (703) or completed the survey online after receiving a text (274). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. Sampling error for results among subgroups is higher. In addition to sampling error, question wording and order can influence results. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education and area variables to ensure the demographics are representative of the registered voter population. Sources for developing weight targets include the American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis and voter file data.