"Sixty-two percent (62%) of [poll participants] say it is more important to gain control of the border than to legalize the status of undocumented workers already living in the United States. Forty percent (31%) put legalizing those already here illegally first," a press release announcing the poll said.
The first two months of the Biden administration have witnessed a surge in illegal migration, on par with a 2019 surge that prompted a crackdown that largely halted the influx.
The latest surge followed a series of executive orders by US President Joe Biden to overturn most of the border control measures imposed during the previous administration.
Images released this week by border officials show hundreds of migrants with metallic blankets on the floors of cage-like structures reminiscent of those used by the Trump administration during the 2019 crisis.
The US encountered more than 100,000 migrants attempting to cross the border in February. It deported nearly three-fourths of those apprehended – mostly families and single adults - while allowing unaccompanied children to remain in detention facilities, according to data from the Customs and Border Protection (CPB) agency.