Polls: The Public Blames Joe Biden – Not the GOP – for Migration Disaster

Polls show that the public disagrees with President Joe Biden’s media-magnified, campaign-trail claim that Republicans are the bad spoilers in border security.

Biden is visiting the Mexican border today to make that claim to a national TV news audience. He will get a lot of airtime to make his claims, partly because Donald Trump is also holding a campaign event at the border today.

“Every day between now and November, the American people are going to know that the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends,” Biden promised on February

Unfortunately for Biden, 57 percent of 2,022 registered agree with Trump’s criticism of the establishment’s February pro-migration border bill, according to a February 21-22 poll by the Harvard Center for American Political Studies and The Harris Poll.

A February 8-12 poll by Monmouth University showed that 47 percent of 902 adults dismissed the establishment bill as “not tough enough.”

The Monmouth poll also asked: “Who is more responsible for blocking this bill – the Republicans in Congress, the Democrats in Congress, or both parties equally?” Only 36 percent blamed the GOP, 13 percent blamed Democrats, and 48 percent blamed “both parties equally.”

Biden’s migration inflow of more than 6.2 million economic migrants has deeply damaged his reelection chances, according to a February 23 report by Gallup: “Biden registers subpar approval ratings for his handling of five key issues facing the U.S., including a new low of 28% for immigration.”

The polls make it unlikely that Biden can shove any blame for his migration disaster into the GOP’s lap. 

For three years, the public has seen how Biden deliberately dismantled Trump’s border protections in his first few days at the White House. His deputies have now welcomed one illegal or legal migrant for every American born during his term.

Biden is also claiming that the GOP sabotaged border security by rejecting the pro-migration border deal secretly developed in the Senate by Democratic and GOP leaders.

But the secretly drafted, pro-migration bill was denounced by many GOP legislators — including House Speaker Mike Johnson — even before Trump slammed the giveaway deal.

The establishment bill included much fine print that minimized border barriers, mandated catch-and-release for job-seeking arrivals, and even created an asylum highway overseen by pro-migration hires.

The bill was drafted by deputies working for the Senate leaders — Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY). But it was immediately rejected by the GOP caucus — and helped cause McConnell’s February 28 announcement that he would give up his leadership of the GOP caucus.

Despite Biden’s claim that the bill was needed and popular, polls show that the bill’s easy-migration rules are deeply unpopular.

For example, the Harvard poll showed that 71 percent of respondents agreed that “the administration should … make it tougher to get in the US illegally.” The 71 percent included 56 percent of Democrats.

The Harvard poll also showed that 57 percent said “the Biden administration has the legal power it needs to address the border security and immigration issues we are facing today.” The 51 percent included 49 percent of Democrats, 60 percent of Republicans, and 50 percent of independents.

Republicans scoff at Biden’s effort to shift blame.

“Biden’s election-year shift, coming on the heels of multiple violent crimes by illegals his own administration released, won’t convince Americans he is serious about border security,” Johnson said in a February 28 tweet. He added:

The fact that it’s taken more than three years to do anything to confront dangerous sanctuary cities should show everyone the President is grasping at straws to cover up his border catastrophe.

If the President is serious about securing the border, he should use his executive authority to make immediate changes to the border, deter illegals from coming, and stop the mass release of illegals into our country.

The migration issue is increasingly difficult for Biden to dodge, partly because of the rising crime by the many unidentified migrants welcomed by Biden’s impeached, Cuban-born, border chief, Alejandro Mayorkas.

The respondents in the Harvard poll said that immigration was the top issue facing the country, with a 36 percent score compared to 33 percent for inflation. Thirty-five percent of independents and 51 percent of Republicans described migration as the top issue.

RELATED: People Greet “Take Our Border Back” Convoy as It Passes Through Brookshire, TX

Forty-four percent said Biden’s biggest mistake was “Created an open borders policy and a historic flood of immigrants.” The view was held by 57 percent of Republicans and 47 percent of independents.

Fifty-nine percent said they strongly “miss Donald Trump’s policies on the economy, immigration and crime.”

A clear 55 percent to 45 percent majority agree with Trump’s opposition to the border bill drafted by  Schumer and McConnell (R-KY). The crosstabs showed agreement from 87 percent of GOP voters, 50 percent of independents, and 28 percent of Democrats.

The pollster asked:

Donald Trump has recently called on the Senate not to pass a compromise bill on immigration and border security not to give the Biden administration any wins on an issue that he says they failed to do anything about and failed to enforce the law for over three years. The bill would allow up to 5000 migrants to come in each day before new measure kicked in and Trump says Republicans can solve the problem better after voters give them a mandate in the election. Do you think Trump is right and support his position against a compromise bill on immigration or is he standing in the way of solving a major issue?

Mayrokas’s pro-migration policies are so unpopular that Biden’s campaign deputies are now reversing many of Mayorkas’ policies.

For example, the nation of Colombia has suddenly clamped down on the global migration from South America around Panama’s Darien Gap jungle trail. In 2022, Mayorkas pushed Panama to let migrants avoid the long jungle trail and instead take boats to a U.S.-backed bus station in the jungle.

Also, White House officials are now asking Democrats who run multiple “Sanctuary Cities” to help deliver criminal migrants to ICE for quick deportation. The turnaround comes three years after Mayorkas announced that he would only deport migrants convicted of violent felonies.

RELATED: Mexican Immigration Agents Beat Venezuelan Migrants

“We welcome local law enforcement’s support and cooperation in apprehending and removing individuals who pose a risk to national security or public safety,” a White House staffer told Fox News on Wednesday. “When a local jurisdiction has information about an individual who could pose a threat to public safety, we want them to share that information with ICE.”

Mayorkas has repeatedly explained that he supports more migration because of his migrant parents, his sympathy for migrants, his support for “equity” between Americans and foreigners, his willingness to put his priorities above the law, and the claimed “needs” of U.S. business.