Most Americans in new poll see situation at border as a crisis, serious problem

Most American believe that the situation at the border is a crisis or a serious problem, according to a new poll.

The new CBS News poll found that 45 percent of Americans see the border situation as a crisis, and another 30 percent view it as a serious problem. Eighteen percent said that the border situation is somewhat serious, and 7 percent said it is not much of a problem at all, according to the poll.

This comes as lawmakers have continued to fight over major border security reforms proposed by Republicans, who have long criticized the Biden administration for its handling of the border and immigration policies. When asked how the Biden administration should move forward with immigrants crossing the border, 63 percent said the policies should be tougher — up from 55 percent who said the same thing in September.

Just 16 percent said it should be easier for migrants crossing at the border, which is slightly down from the 19 percent who said the same in September. Twenty-one percent said that the Biden administration is handling things right, which is also down 5 percentage points since September.

The poll also asked respondents to weigh in on what they thought of Republican governors sending migrants to Democratic-led cities in the north. Fifty-seven percent said they disapproved of the action, up from the 50 percent who said so in September.

Both President Biden and Republican lawmakers received low marks for handling the U.S.-Mexico border. Sixty-eight percent of respondents disapproved of how Biden has handled the border, and 65 percent disapprove of how congressional Republicans have handled it.

The poll was conducted among 2,157 adults between Jan. 3 and 5 and has a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points.