CNN Poll: Most Americans say now is not the time to end Trump-era Title 42 border policy

By Ariel Edwards-Levy and Jennifer Agiesta, CNN

Most Americans say now is not the time to end a pandemic-era border restriction that the Biden administration hoped to drop this month, but those who say it ought to continue are divided over how long it should remain in place, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS.

The policy, known as Title 42, was put in place by the Trump administration early in the coronavirus pandemic. It allows US border officials to immediately turn migrants who have reached the United States, including those seeking asylum, back to Mexico or their home countries because of the public health crisis. While a majority of the public (56%) favors allowing migrants from Central American countries to seek asylum, fewer (45%) say asylum claims should take priority over efforts to limit the number of people seeking to enter the country.

The Biden administration’s plans to lift Title 42 in May were temporarily blocked by a federal judge in Louisiana. Efforts to roll back the policy were backed by immigrant rights advocates and some public health experts, but criticized by GOP lawmakers, as well by some swing-state Democrats, who argued that President Joe Biden lacked a clear post-Title 42 plan to handle an expected surge in border crossings.

Forty-three percent of Americans say it’s time to end Title 42 and return to pre-pandemic procedures, while 57% say it’s not. But those who say it’s not the right time are split, with 29% saying it should remain in place indefinitely and 27% saying the government needs more time to end the policy.

A majority of Democrats, 64%, want to see Title 42 end now, with 28% saying the government needs more time and 8% saying it should remain in place indefinitely. More than 8 in 10 Republicans say it’s not the time to end the restriction, including 57% who say the pandemic-era measure should remain in place indefinitely, 26% who say the government needs more time to prepare and 17% who feel it should end immediately.

Most Americans have doubts about the Biden administration’s ability to handle an increase in migration that is widely expected should the policy end. Only 26% say they’re at least somewhat confident that the administration is prepared to handle any increase in the number of migrants seeking to enter the US that might result from Title 42 ending, with 74% expressing little or no confidence. Among Republicans, 82% say they have no confidence at all, while just 14% of Democrats feel the same.

Public opinion of migrants

Fifty-six percent of Americans favor allowing migrants from Central American countries to seek asylum in the United States, a modest downtick from 63% in April 2021. A year ago, strong support for allowing migrants to seek asylum outweighed strong opposition; in the most recent poll, strong feelings are about equally prevalent on both sides (22% strongly favor it, while 23% strongly oppose it).

A majority of 54%, however, says that minimizing the number of people trying to enter the United States should be a higher priority than allowing people to seek asylum in the country, with just 45% saying asylum-seekers should be the higher priority.

Views are sharply divided along partisan lines. Roughly three-quarters of Democrats (74%) favor allowing Central American migrants to seek asylum in the US, with 62% saying that allowing people to seek asylum should take priority over minimizing the number of people seeking to enter the US. Among independents, those numbers are 59% and 50%, respectively. Just 35% of Republicans favor allowing Central American migrants to seek asylum, and only 22% think asylum-seekers should be a priority for policymakers.

Immigration not a top focus

Immigration isn’t currently at the forefront of most Americans’ minds: Only 10% of Americans consider it to be the top issue facing the nation, compared with the 50% who say the biggest concern is the economy, according to results from the same poll released earlier this week. Only 41% say they’ve followed the news about Title 42 even somewhat closely, with just 12% saying they’ve followed the news very closely. Strong interest in the topic is more common on the right, with 25% of Republicans and just 6% of Democrats saying they’ve followed the news very closely. Even within the GOP, attention is concentrated among conservatives, with 62% of conservative Republicans saying they are following at least somewhat closely, compared with about 4 in 10 among moderate or liberal Republicans, moderate or conservative Democrats and liberal Democrats alike.

About two-thirds of Americans, 68%, say they currently consider the situation at the US-Mexico border to be a crisis. That’s down from 78% last April, a shift that reflects lessening concerns among both Democrats and independents.

But public unhappiness with the government’s approach to immigration is widespread.

Just 27% of Americans approve of the way migrants attempting to cross the southern border are being treated by the US government, similar to the 31% who approved under the Trump administration in 2019. A majority of 62% currently says the US government is doing too little to try to enforce immigration laws, with 26% saying the government is doing the right amount and 12% saying it’s doing too much. Specifically on Biden’s handling of immigration, 34% approve and 66% disapprove.

The CNN Poll was conducted by SSRS from April 28-May 1 among a random national sample of 1,007 adults surveyed online or by phone after being recruited using probability-based methods. Results for the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

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