SOUTHERN BORDER, July 21, 2022 — Today, the U.S. Immigration Policy Center (USIPC) at UC San Diego and the Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC) released the results of a nationally representative border-specific survey Voters Distrust Border Agency, Want More Oversight and Accountability conducted in July 2022. 

Public safety depends on public trust, but there can be no trust if there is no accountability. The poll results show that a large majority of voters simply do not trust U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the nation’s largest law enforcement agency. Although the poll reveals a crisis of confidence in CBP, it also shows the overwhelming interest of voters in more accountability. The major findings of the poll include:

• Across the country, three-quarters of voters do not fully trust border agents to respect the constitutional rights of everyone, or to be held accountable when they violate those rights.
  
  
• More than three-quarters of voters believe that respecting the constitutional rights of everyone — including migrants, travelers, and residents  — increases trust in border agents.
  
  
• Recent revelations of agency cover-ups have led more than three-quarters of voters to believe that we need independent prosecutors to review cases involving border agents for possible obstruction of justice.
  
  
• More than two-thirds of voters want to require CBP to have a warrant to conduct a search, and nearly three-quarters want Congress to give individuals the right to sue agents when their civil and constitutional rights are violated.
  
  
• Three-quarters of voters want Congress to create a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. Conditioning it on more border enforcement does not increase support. Instead, it lessens the intensity of support.

Public safety depends on public trust of the government, but there can be no trust if there is no accountability. Congress should listen to voters and use its authority to hold CBP accountable.

View the full poll report, Voter Distrust Border Agency, Want More Oversight and Accountability, and the cross-tabs here: 

Poll Report: https://usipc.ucsd.edu/publications/usipc-sbcc-border-poll-final-final.pdf

Cross-tabs: https://bit.ly/3zlJ0wa

ABOUT THE SOUTHERN BORDER COMMUNITIES COALITION
The Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC) brings together organizations from San Diego, California to Brownsville, Texas, to ensure that border enforcement policies and practices are accountable and fair, respect human dignity and human rights, and prevent the loss of life in the region.

Media Contact:

Kendall Martin
[email protected]
Mobile/text: 619.629.0337 

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