(NewsNation) — A Fox News poll has found that the majority of Americans do not approve of President Joe Biden’s policies regarding the U.S.-Mexico border.
Seventy-one percent of registered voters said security at the southern border is not strict enough.
Contrary to past polling, most Americans now favor the construction of a border wall. Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed said they were in favor of building a wall. Among independents, that number was 53 percent.
Biden recently angered progressives after continuing with former President Donald Trump’s plan to build a wall. Biden, who has claimed they are ineffective, said that because the money was allocated for that purpose during Trump’s term in 2019 it had to be spent now.
One of Biden’s first actions after taking office in January 2021 was to issue a proclamation pledging that “no more American taxpayer dollars be diverted to construct a border wall” as well as a review of all resources that had already been committed.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement that there was “no new Administration policy with respect to border walls. From day one, this Administration has made clear that a border wall is not the answer.”
Mayorkas said the construction project was appropriated during the prior administration and the law requires the government to use the funds, with an announcement made earlier in the year. “We have repeatedly asked Congress to rescind this money but it has not done so and we are compelled to follow the law,” he said.
Reuters contributed to this report.