A clear majority of US voters say that border security is the most important thing for Congress to work on, a new poll reveals.

A poll conducted by Public Opinion Strategies and Americans for Prosperity has found that

nearly six in 10 voters (57per cent) say that „border reform legislation” is „more important” than „all other things Congress could be working on”.

A plurality of voters (42 per cent) said they were most in favour of a hypothetical policy to „secure our border and ports,” while another 36 per cent said they most wanted to establish clear and predictable rules and laws for the country’s immigration system, the New York Post points out.

Nearly three-quarters of voters (73 per cent) said they were most likely to trust border patrol agents and officials „a great deal” or a „fair amount” on the issue of immigration, with 69 per cent saying the same of both local law enforcement officials and border region residents.

Neither President Biden nor former President Donald Trump broke 50 per cent on the question, with 45 per cent saying they would trust Trump a „great deal” or „fair amount,” and only 43 per cent saying the same of Biden.

In total, more than a quarter of voters (27per cent) said illegal immigration and border security was a top-two issue to them, trailing only inflation (39 per cent) and ahead of the economy and jobs (25 per cent).

Despite more than eight in 10 voters (81 per cent) saying they had a „negative” view of the state of US border security, the poll showed Biden leading Trump by two percentage points, 45 to 43 per cent. Trump tops Biden by one percentage point in the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate of polling.

In another rough sign for the president,

74 per cent of respondents felt that the country was on the wrong track, compared to 26 per cent who believed it was moving in the right direction.

Just 41 per cent of voters approved of Biden’s job performance, while 59 per cent disapproved. Among independents, only 33 per cent approved of the president’s work compared to 67 per cent who disapproved, according to the poll.

Like Biden, Trump also makes a bad impression among voters, with 38 per cent holding a favourable view and 59 per cent holding an unfavorable view.