According to a new Washington Post-ABC poll, the percentage of Americans who now consider the dire, unprecedented migrant influx situation at our southern border to be a “crisis” has increased 11 points since January. But perhaps most interestingly, that increase has occurred more due to Democrats than it has due to Republicans.
Per The Washington Post:
More than a third of Americans say that illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border is at a “crisis,” up 11 percentage points since January as Democrats have grown sharply more concerned about the issue, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll. …
The poll, conducted by cellular and landline telephone between April 22 and 25, finds that 35 percent of Americans believe the situation is a crisis, up from 24 percent in January. While that figure included a modest increase among Republicans and independents, the percentage of Democrats who agree jumped from 7 percent to 24 percent, nearly a quarter of the party.
While the percentage of Democrats who would call the border situation a “crisis” has increased from 7% to 24%, the percentage of Republicans who would do the same has increased from 49% to 56%.
As The Post notes, federal data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reveal that the 100,000-plus number of border apprehensions in the month of March represented the highest monthly total in a dozen years. CBP elaborated in its press release accompanying the publication of the March border numbers:
In Fiscal Year 2019 to date, the U.S. Border Patrol has seen a more than 370% increase in the number of family units apprehended compared to the same time period in FY2018. Today, 60% of apprehensions along the Southwest border are family units and unaccompanied children, made up predominantly of individuals from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
Additionally, through the first six months of FY19, CBP has encountered 104 large groups composed of 100 or more individuals totaling 17,242 apprehensions. In comparison, U.S. Border Patrol encountered 13 large groups in FY2018 and two in FY2017.
The Washington Post-ABC poll comes as some notable 2020 Democratic presidential contenders seem to be pushing back against far-Left immigration extremism. For example, socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) made clear earlier this month that he does not, in fact, support truly open borders:
During a town hall in Oskaloosa, Iowa, Sanders was asked by an attendee about how the United States can afford to fund social services such as health care, with an open borders policy.
The attendee also claimed the Vermont senator is “an advocate for open borders.”
“I’m afraid you may be getting your information wrong. That’s not my view,” Sanders said.
“What we need is comprehensive immigration reform,” he continued. “If you open the borders, my God, there’s a lot of poverty in this world, and you’re going to have people from all over the world. And I don’t think that’s something that we can do at this point. Can’t do it. So that is not my position.”
Middle East Forum President Daniel Pipes has also speculated that the American Left may soon follow the European Left and tack toward a more anti-immigration direction.
