Majority of Americans Support Texas in Border Dispute With Biden Admin

Texas National Guard soldiers install additional razor wire along the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Jan. 10, 2024. John Moore/Getty Images

A significant majority of U.S. voters support Texas in its efforts to bolster security on the U.S.–Mexico border amid an influx of illegal immigrants by putting up razor wire barriers to block unlawful crossings, a new poll shows.

The poll, conducted by Rasmussen and published on Jan. 29, found that 69 percent of likely U.S. voters support Texas’s strategy. The poll was taken from Jan. 23 to 25 and captured the views of 940 likely voters; it has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent.

The findings of the poll come as the Lone Star State is embroiled in an ongoing dispute with President Joe Biden over razor wire barriers.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the Texas National Guard to put up the concertina wire barriers, but the Biden administration sued, leading to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows federal agents to take them down.

Undeterred by the court order and the Biden administration’s criticism, Mr. Abbott said recently that he would add more razor wire to make sure the state is “doing even more to secure the border.”

The Rasmussen poll also asked voters whether they support the Supreme Court ruling, with 49 percent saying they disapprove of the decision and 46 percent saying they’re in favor.

Razor Wire Dispute

Reacting to the Supreme Court ruling, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said immigration law enforcement is a federal responsibility and Texas’s actions hamper those efforts.

“Rather than helping to reduce irregular migration, the State of Texas has only made it harder for front-line personnel to do their jobs and to apply consequences under the law,“ the spokesperson said. ”We can enforce our laws and administer them safely, humanely, and in an orderly way.”

By contrast, Mr. Abbott’s tough stance on border security has been praised by Republicans. Recently, a group of 25 GOP governors issued a joint statement accusing President Biden of failing to secure the border and backing Mr. Abbott’s efforts.

“We stand in solidarity with our fellow Governor, Greg Abbott, and the State of Texas in utilizing every tool and strategy, including razor wire fences, to secure the border,” they wrote.

Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump told supporters at a Jan. 27 rally in Las Vegas that if he’s elected president, he will do everything in his power to support Texas’s border efforts.

“When I’m president, instead of trying to send Texas a restraining order, I will send them reinforcements,” he said in a speech that focused heavily on border security.

“Instead of fighting border states, I will use every resource, tool, and authority of the U.S. president to defend the United States of America from this horrible invasion that is taking place right now,” the former president added.

The latest data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) show that illegal immigrant encounters along the U.S.–Mexico border in December hit a new record high of 302,034.

A U.S. Border Patrol agent supervises as immigrants walk into the United States after crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico, in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Sept. 30, 2023. The agent had cut coils of razor wire to let them pass through for processing. John Moore/Getty Images

The number of nationwide encounters also set a new record. There were 371,036 illegal immigrant encounters in December, which is greater than the previous high of 341,392, logged in August 2023.

President Trump on Jan. 27 issued a stark warning about the state of the border, saying he believes that a terror attack on U.S. soil is practically a sure thing.

So far this fiscal year, agents encountered 49 people along the border who were on the terror watchlist.

A third question posed to U.S. voters as part of the Rasmussen poll was whether they agree with a statement made by Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) that “the feds are staging a civil war, and Texas should stand their ground.”

A majority of respondents—55 percent—agreed, while 36 percent disagreed.

Border Deal in Focus

The poll comes as some Republicans and Democrats in the Senate are reportedly trying to hammer out a consensus on a border bill.

As negotiations continue, a purported leaked draft of the deal prompted House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to remark that the measure would be “dead on arrival” in the lower chamber.

Few details are known about the contents of the deal, but it reportedly includes funding for Ukraine and Israel amid ongoing military conflicts, as well as provisions that would allow up to 5,000 illegal immigrants to be released into the country per day, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said.

“The Biden administration tries every day to make illegal immigration legal,” Ms. Blackburn told Fox News in an interview. She said that in negotiations around the border deal, “they want us to say it’s OK for 5,000 people to come, it’s OK for us to close our border some days of the year.”

“I will not vote for anything that makes illegal legal,” she said.

President Trump, too, has urged Republicans to reject anything but a “perfect” deal on border security.

Mr. Johnson on Jan. 29 took to social media platform X to say that a red line for Republicans in a potential border deal would be allowing even a single illegal border crossing.

“Thousands each day is outrageous,” Mr. Johnson wrote. “The number must be ZERO.”

President Biden, by contrast, has called for the deal to be passed.

He posted a statement on X calling for Congress to pass legislation giving him new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes “overwhelmed,” meaning if certain thresholds are met for the number of illegal crossings.

“If given that authority, I would use it the day I sign the bill into law,” the president insisted while reiterating his call for Congress to approve more money for border security.

“If you’re serious about the border crisis, pass a bipartisan bill, and I will sign it,” he said.