Poll: Close to 80% of Americans say Title 42 should be kept in place

Voters on all political sides strongly agree that Title 42 should remain in place, according to a new poll.

Title 42 allows border enforcement to expel immigrants to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Put in place by under the Trump administration at the start of the pandemic, the policy is set to be removed by President Biden.

Harvard CAPS/Harris surveyed a total of 1,851 registered voters about the immigration law and asked them if they support it’s removal.

Eighty percent of Republicans, 79 percent of Democrats, and 76 percent of Independents said that they wanted to keep Title 42.

The majority of Hispanic and Black respondents agreed, with 67 percent and 77 percent saying that they wanted to keep the law in place.

Title 42 was set to expire early last week but the Supreme Court ruled that they would hold it up while they hear an appeal from Republican-led states who say the removal of Title 42 would overwhelm them.

The same poll found that voters are deeply concerned with about the effects of President Biden’s immigration policies. 67 percent said his administration has encouraged illegal immigration and 57 percent said they have allowed the flow of drugs and crime to increase.

A large number of respondents didn’t even know how much illegal immigration has increased in recent years.

Sixty-four percent noted that illegal border crossings have increased under the Biden administration. Half thought border crossings had increased by 250-500 thousand, which is 10 times less than the true number, the poll noted.

When told that there were actually over 2.75 million illegal border crossings in the last year, two-thirds of respondents said that Biden should enact stricter border enforcement policies.