Almost twice as many voters trust presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump over incumbent and Democratic candidate Joe Biden when it comes to handling immigration issues at the southern border, a new poll shows.
The study, conducted by Decision Desk HQ and News Nation, showed that 46% of respondents chose the Republican compared to 26% who backed the Democrat. Another 13% said they weren't sure about their answer.
The large gap can be partially explained by levels of trust within the parties. 85% of Republican voters said they trust Trump on the issue, compared to 61% of Democrats.
Immigration has emerged as a dominant issue ahead of the presidential elections. Republicans are looking to take advantage of the fact that it remains as the main concern among Americans, topping the list of a monthly Gallup survey for the third time in a row, the pollster said last week.
Asked an open-ended question about what they thought was the most important problem facing the U.S. at the moment, over a quarter of respondents (27%) said immigration.
The Biden administration has sought to take action on the issue, both at a domestic and international level. Enforcement by the Mexican government has seemingly had an effect, with different reports shedding light on actions taken to prevent migrants from reaching the border.
At the request of the U.S., the country is using military patrols and highway checkpoints, intercepting roughly 8,000 U.S.-bound migrants per day, according to officials from both countries.
These actions already being reflected in the numbers, as southern border crossings have decreased 40% since December and have remained relatively stable through the first four months of 2024, according to figures obtained by The Washington Post.
In April, U.S. border agents encountered about 130,000 migrants entering illegally from Mexico, a level that is high by historical standards but lower than February and March, according to U.S. enforcement data obtained by The Post.
Another potentially welcome news for the Biden administration could be the election of José Raúl Mulino as the next president of Panama. Mulino, who won on Sunday, has vowed to shut down a key migration route to the country.
Bloomberg reported that Mulino has said he'll shut the trails in the Darien Gap, a treacherous jungle path that connects Panama and Colombia and is used by hundreds of thousands of migrants on their way to the United States.
Only last year, over half a million people crossed the lawless jungle, ridden with criminal organizations dedicated to human smuggling, river crossings and wild animals.
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