Majority of voters oppose White House move on Title 42

A majority of registered voters in a new poll oppose the White House’s recent decision to rescind Title 42, the policy first imposed under the Trump administration that allowed migrants to be expelled at the border and blocked them from trying to obtain asylum.

The poll, conducted by Politico and Morning Consult, found that 54 percent of registered voters surveyed said they oppose the Biden administration removing the border controls, while 35 percent support the move. Ten percent of respondents said they do not know or do not have an opinion.

When broken down along party lines, 62 percent of Democrats polled said they supported the Biden administration’s decision, compared to only 9 percent of Republicans who said the same.

Independents are also largely in opposition to the White House’s decision: 33 percent of respondents who identified as independents said they supported removing the border controls, compared to 53 who said they opposed the move.

The Biden administration rescinded the controversial policy earlier in April after months of hearing frustration among immigration advocates, who saw the code as illegal and cruel to individuals who were trying to move away from persecution and danger. The administration had also been under pressure from within the Democratic Party.

The policy officially ends on May 23. It was first introduced in the beginning days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The decision, however, is now leaving the Biden administration with a bottleneck at the border after the U.S. denied migrants the ability to seek asylum for more than two years.

It is also becoming a large political fight, with Republicans knocking the administration for lifting the measure and calling the White House soft on immigration. Some Democrats are also looking to separate themselves from the decision and have raised concerns over an increase in migrants.

The poll surveyed 2,005 registered voters from April 8 to April 11. The margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.