67 Percent: States Should Have Right to Defend Borders

February 20, 2024: Sixty-seven percent (67%) of voters believe that, if the federal government fails to protect the border, individual states should have the right to defend their own borders. A Scott Rasmussen national survey found that 65% of voters believe that the federal government has at this point in time failed to defend the border.

The survey also found that 47% of voters believe that leaders of countries like China, Russia, and Iran are deliberately having people cross the U.S. border illegally in order to harm the United States. Thirty-one percent (31%) do not believe that is happening.

Methodology

The survey of 1,000 registered voters was conducted online by Scott Rasmussen on February 5-6, 2024. Field work for the survey was conducted by RMG Research, Inc. Certain quotas were applied, and the sample was lightly weighted by geography, gender, age, race, education, internet usage, and political party to reasonably reflect the nation’s population of registered voters. Other variables were reviewed to ensure that the final sample is representative of that population. The margin of sampling error for the full sample is +/- 3.1 percentage points.

Note: Neither Scott Rasmussen, ScottRasmussen.com, nor RMG Research, Inc. have any affiliation with Rasmussen Reports. While Scott Rasmussen founded that firm, he left nearly a decade ago and has had no involvement since that time.

Survey Questions

If the federal government fails to defend the border, should individual states have the right to defend their own borders?

• 67%-Yes
• 22%-No
• 11%-Not sure

At this point in time, has the federal government failed to defend the border?

• 65%-Yes
• 19%-No
• 16%-Not sure

Do you believe that leaders of countries like China, Russia, and Iran are deliberately having people cross the U.S. border illegally in order to harm the United States?

• 47%-Yes
• 31%-No
• 23%-Not sure