Voters see border as Biden’s biggest failure: Poll

Voters view President Biden’s handling of the situation at the U.S. southern border as his administration’s biggest failure, according to a new poll. 

The Harvard CAPS-Harris poll shared with The Hill showed 44 percent of respondents said allowing the influx of migrants that have come across the border has been Biden’s biggest failure. That total includes 57 percent of Republicans, almost half of independents and nearly 30 percent of Democrats.

Respondents picked a top three from a list of criticisms of the administration. The category with the second highest percentage of respondents indicating Biden’s biggest failure was “weak leadership at home and abroad” with 25 percent. 

Immigration has taken center focus in the national spotlight recently with a record number of migrant encounters being recorded at the southern border in December. A bipartisan group of senators reached a deal earlier this month to address the border, but the bill failed to advance in the House after most Republicans voted against moving it forward. 

House Republicans also approved a resolution impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas earlier this month, accusing him of failing to follow federal immigration rules in protecting the border and lying to Congress. The articles are not expected to be approved in the Senate. 

Immigration was listed as the top issue facing the country in the poll, with 36 percent saying so. Price increases and inflation came in second with 33 percent. 

For the most important issue to the respondents personally, inflation came in first with 42 percent while immigration was second with 18 percent. 

Biden’s approval rating was the lowest on immigration, with just 35 percent saying they approve of the job Biden is doing.

The incumbent performed best on his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 52 percent. Almost half said they approve of his work stimulating the creation of jobs, and 46 percent said they approve of how he has administered the government. 

Lowering the cost of prescription drugs was seen as one of Biden’s biggest accomplishments, with 28 percent saying so, followed by capping the price of insulin with 22 percent and passing the Inflation Reduction Act with 20 percent. 

The Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey was conducted Feb. 21-22 and surveyed 2,022 registered voters. It is a collaboration of the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University and the Harris Poll. 

The survey is an online sample drawn from the Harris Panel and weighted to reflect known demographics. As a representative online sample, it does not report a probability confidence interval.