Fox News Poll: Most voters favor immigration deal

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President Trump vows to end the immigration crisis in the State of the Union

A sizable majority of voters favors a broad immigration deal that includes a border barrier, non-barrier security measures, and humanitarian aid.  At the same time, support for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border stands its highest since 2015.

The number favoring the wall inched up for the second time in two months to 46 percent, according to the latest Fox News Poll.  It was 43 percent last month during the government shutdown and 39 percent in September.  The high mark was 50 percent in November 2015.

Currently, 50 percent oppose the wall, down one point since January.

READ THE COMPLETE POLL RESULTS.

A bipartisan 66 percent majority favors a budget deal that includes funding for some form of a border barrier, plus other security measures and humanitarian relief.

The compromise deal lawmakers are currently discussing reportedly includes $1.375 billion for border barriers and security, and humanitarian aid.  The president must sign legislation by midnight Friday to prevent another shutdown.

While there is a wide gap in the number of Democrats (12 percent) and Republicans (86 percent) favoring the wall, majorities of both parties, 60 percent of Democrats and 73 percent of Republicans, favor the compromise.

Seventy-five percent of pro-wall voters favor the broad immigration deal, as do 58 percent of wall opponents.

Meanwhile, pro-wall voters (58 percent) are more than twice as likely as wall opponents (24 percent) to say they are willing to shut down the government over the wall.

Who won the recent shutdown showdown?  By a 43-35 percent margin, voters say House Speaker Nancy Pelosi looked stronger politically after the shutdown ended than President Donald Trump.  Pelosi also garners more party loyalty: 74 percent of Democrats think she looked stronger compared to 68 percent of Republicans who say Trump did.

Even so, the shutdown didn’t damage the president’s numbers.  Both his job approval and his personal favorable rating are within a point or two of where they have been for months.

Forty-three percent of voters have a favorable view of Trump, down three points from 46 percent in December.  His negative rating went up two points to 54 percent.  That puts his favorable rating underwater by 11 points.  For comparison, Pelosi is underwater by 15.  Since December, positive views of her held steady at 36 percent (51 percent unfavorable).

Overall, the president’s job rating is negative by 6 points:  46 percent of voters approve of the job he is doing and 52 percent disapprove.  Last month, during the partial government shutdown, it was 43-54 percent.  In December, it was 46-52 percent.

More than half remain opposed to the president declaring a national emergency as a way to construct the wall without congressional approval.  Fifty-six percent are against that, including 20 percent of Republicans.

Sixty-three percent of voters consider the situation at the southern border an emergency or major problem.  The same number, 63 percent, feel that way about climate change.  Opioid addiction dwarfs that: 87 percent consider it an emergency or major problem.

Just over a third (35 percent) think the migrant caravan is a “major threat” to national security.  While that’s more than see instability in Venezuela that way (22 percent), it is far fewer than consider North Korea (52 percent), ISIS (62 percent), and foreign cyberattacks (72 percent) a major U.S. security threat.

Voters favor giving legal status to Dreamers by 70-21 percent, unchanged since January 2018.

One third have a favorable view of sanctuary cities, while 44 percent have a negative opinion

Pollpourri

-- Views of freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are negative:  26 percent favorable vs. 39 percent unfavorable.  Nineteen percent have never heard of her.  For comparison, 11 percent say they have never heard of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is currently serving his sixth term in the senate.  McConnell is viewed more negatively than positively by 20 points (25 favorable vs. 45 unfavorable).

“Ocasio-Cortez’s rapid rise to national prominence is remarkable, and Republicans have a lot to do with elevating her,” says Democratic pollster Chris Anderson, who conducts the poll with Republican Daron Shaw.  “I expect to see her numbers improve as more Democrats realize how much Republicans dislike her.”

-- Melania Trump is more popular than anyone tested.  Forty-seven percent of voters have a favorable view of her, 37 percent unfavorable.  The first lady’s highest positive rating was 51 percent in June 2017.

-- Mixed views on Vice President Mike Pence: 42 percent favorable vs. 44 percent unfavorable.

-- Post partial federal shutdown, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are on par in the eyes of voters, as 45 percent have a favorable view of each party.  In addition, roughly equal numbers of Democrats have a positive view of their party (87 favorable) as Republicans have of theirs (84 favorable).  However, far more Democrats, 51 percent, have a “strongly” favorable opinion of their party than Republicans (39 percent) have of the GOP.

The Fox News poll is based on landline and cellphone interviews with 1,004 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) (formerly named Anderson Robbins Research) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from February 10-12, 2019.  The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points for all registered voters.