Trump cites Gallup poll as reason to build border wall
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President Trump cited a recent survey that showed 42 million people living in Latin America or the Caribbean would migrate to the US as evidence bolstering his demand to build a wall on the southern border.
“Gallup Poll: ‘Open Borders will potentially attract 42 million Latin Americans.’ This would be a disaster for the U.S. We need the Wall now!,” Trump posted on Twitter Sunday morning.
He was referring to a Gallup Poll report released Friday that asked people living in those regions, which has a population of 450 million adults, if they would “like to move to another country permanently if you could?”
The pollster said 27 percent said they would – a number that would represent more than 120 million people.
It then asked where they would move.
Thirty-five percent said the United States – which Gallup estimated to mean 42 million people.
“Forty-two million seekers of citizenship or asylum are watching to determine exactly when and how is the best time to make the move,” Gallup CEO Jim Clifton concluded in his Chairman’s Blog. “This suggests that open borders could potentially attract 42 million Latin Americans. A full 5 million who are planning to move in the next 12 months say they are moving to the U.S.”
Trump has been battling with Congress over providing the $5.7 billion he has demanded for a wall on the US-Mexican border.
The impasse led to a 35-day government shutdown that ended on Jan. 25 with Trump signing a temporary spending bill that reopened the government for three weeks so congressional negotiators could continue their talks on border security.
The new deadline is Feb. 15.
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