As the 2024 presidential campaign heats up, American attitudes toward migrants and migration are turning more negative. A March 2024 Gallup survey found that immigration was the issue voters most frequently mentioned spontaneously as the top problem facing the country. An Associated Press-NORC poll conducted last month found that 64% of respondents supported hiring more Border Patrol agents, 53% wanted to reduce the number of asylum applicants, and 42% wanted a wall.
The U.S. isn’t the only place where border security is a hot political issue. The Dominican Republic is building a 250-mile wall across the island of Hispaniola to seal off its border with Haiti. Migrants crossing the English Channel have become a political challenge for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s beleaguered Conservatives in Britain. From Sweden to Spain, far-right anti-immigrant parties appear poised to make big gains in June’s elections to the European Parliament.