Public opinion on a Southern-border wall in the U.S., by political party 2020
In 2020, 86 percent of surveyed Republicans said that they were in favor of building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border in order to try to stop illegal immigration. In comparison, 36 percent of Independents and 79 percent of Democrats opposed building a wall along the southern border.
Immigration figures
Building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to stop illegal immigration was a major promise of President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. President Trump maintains that a wall would stop illegal immigration into the U.S., despite the fact that in 2016, the majority of undocumented migrant arrivals occurred by overstaying visas rather than passing unchecked through a border. According to the United States Border Patrol, alien apprehensions into the United States reached a peak in 2000 at over 1.6 million apprehensions. This figure has since decreased to just over 404,000 in 2018.
The 2019 government shutdown
At the end of 2018, President Trump demanded that Congress pass a federal appropriations bill including almost six billion U.S. dollars in order to fund construction of a border wall, which Congress refused to do. This triggered a lapse in federal funding, causing the longest government shutdown in American history, at 35 days long.
Immigration figures
Building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border to stop illegal immigration was a major promise of President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. President Trump maintains that a wall would stop illegal immigration into the U.S., despite the fact that in 2016, the majority of undocumented migrant arrivals occurred by overstaying visas rather than passing unchecked through a border. According to the United States Border Patrol, alien apprehensions into the United States reached a peak in 2000 at over 1.6 million apprehensions. This figure has since decreased to just over 404,000 in 2018.
The 2019 government shutdown
At the end of 2018, President Trump demanded that Congress pass a federal appropriations bill including almost six billion U.S. dollars in order to fund construction of a border wall, which Congress refused to do. This triggered a lapse in federal funding, causing the longest government shutdown in American history, at 35 days long.
