In January 2024, Count on Mothers surveyed 785 mothers across 47 states and a broad range of political ideologies to understand their views on the Secure the Border Act. Mothers shared perspectives based on their lived experiences and concerns related to family safety and well-being. Aggregated findings were shared with Congressional legislators to inform deliberations on the bill and its underlying policy issues. Overall, mothers expressed mixed views on the legislation, with majority support for several individual components and notable variation by political ideology.
60% of Mothers believe that overall, based on the 7 components surveyed, the "Secure the Border Act" would have a positive impact on the safety, health, or well-being of kids and families. 23% of Mothers surveyed were unsure whether the bill would have a positive impact, and 17% of Mothers surveyed did not agree with the bill.
The majority of Mothers support the (7) components, with the largest majority supporting 1) that the federal government should require real-time access to the criminal history databases of all countries of origin to perform background checks (80% of Mothers surveyed agree), and 2) that the federal government should improve technology and increase the number of Border Patrol agents at the southern and northern U.S. border (73% of Mothers surveyed agree). The least supported is the idea that unaccompanied children should be removed from the U.S. if they are not victims of trafficking or have a fear of return (51% of Mothers surveyed agreed). Among the specific components of the bill, a trend emerged along political lines. Most very conservative and conservative Mothers were in agreement with each aspect of the legislation. However, on almost every component, Mothers who identified as liberal and very liberal were split. In addition, on almost every component, mothers who identified as moderate showed significant uncertainty on the ideas in the bill.
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