Almost 2 in 3 Americans want to hire more Border Patrol agents: Poll

Amid an unprecedented surge in illegal border crossings, polling data shows Americans overwhelmingly want the nation to hire more Border Patrol agents and immigration judges to address the issue.

Overall, 64% of respondents in an AP/NORC poll released Friday supported hiring more Border Patrol agents. That figure included 54% of Democrats, 56% of independents, and 79% of Republicans. A further 58% wanted to hire more immigration judges, including 65% of Democrats, 36% of independents, and 60% of Republicans.

A more modest majority of 53% backed reducing the number of immigrants who may seek asylum in the U.S., with 35% of Democrats backing such a move, 51% of independents supporting it, and 75% of Republicans approving of such action.

Support for building a wall, a signature policy proposal of former President Trump, was somewhat lower, at 42% overall. Just 12% of Democrats backed that plan, while 40% of independents did so, as did 77% of Republicans.

Notably, there was a significant partisan divide on the importance of immigration, with 75% of Republicans saying it was either an "extremely or very important" issue, 52% of independents saying the same, and 46 % of Democrats backing the sentiment. Fifty-eight overall assigned that level of importance to immigration.

Conducted March 21-25, the survey questioned 1,282 adults and has a margin of sampling error of +/- 3.8%.

The results come as public satisfaction with President Joe Biden's handling of the issue remains low. Overall, the president enjoys an average 31.5% approval rating on immigration, according to RealClearPolitics, while 64.0% disapprove.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.