United States voters believe by a 2-1 margin that dealing with the crisis on the southern border is more important than aiding Ukraine to resist Russian invaders, according to a Rasmussen Poll.
The poll surveyed 1,024 likely voters between Aug. 21 and 23, shows that 60 percent of respondents say that “getting the migrant crisis at the U.S. border under control” is more important for national security, while only 30 percent say “supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia” is the more important national security issue. Ten percent were not sure.
President Joe Biden welcomes President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to the White House on December 21, 2022 in Washington, DC.(Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
More Americans also think that the issues at the southern border are a “crisis.”
Sixty-five percent of voters think the United States–Mexico border is experiencing a “crisis,” while 24 percent say it’s not. Only 11 percent were not sure. These findings are essentially unchanged since May, Rasmussen said.
In other results, respondents felt that Republicans were more capable of handling the border problems, though only by a slight majority. Overall, 45 percent said they trust Republicans more to handle the crisis, while 42 percent still trust the Democrats on the issue. 13 percent were unsure. This has also remained unchanged, as a similar result was found in April.
Drilling down to party split, even 51 percent of Democrats agreed that the border problems are a “crisis.” 84 percent of Republicans agreed with that characterization. Also, 60 percent of respondents who do not identify with either party said the situation at the border is a crisis.
Unsurprisingly, Republicans (81 percent) and Democrats (79 percent) feel their own party can best handle these national security issues. But a majority of those who claim to be unaffiliated gave the GOP the edge, with 42 percent saying Republicans are better positioned to deal with national security, while 31 percent said they trust the Democrats on the issue.
Joe Biden came in for a drubbing on immigration, Rasmussen added. Only 33 percent say he has done a good job on immigration, while 42 percent gave him a poor rating.
There are also similar majorities across racial boundaries on the crisis. 56 percent of white respondents, 65 percent of black respondents, and 68 percent of other minorities say that the southern border is in crisis and is more important to deal with than Ukraine.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
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