Voters Don't Trust Government to Keep Border Secure under Any New Immigration Law

While most continue to put more border control first in any immigration reform plan, fewer voters than ever trust the federal government to actually control the border if a new plan is passed, according to a new Rasmussen Reports poll.

The poll found 25 percent of likely U.S. voters think it is even somewhat likely that the federal government will actually secure the border and prevent illegal immigration if that is part of new immigration legislation.Sixty-five percent consider it unlikely. This number includes only 5 percent who say the government is very likely to secure the border if its part of legislation that would give legal status to those already here illegally and 24 percent who say its not at all likely.

Skepticism of border control could be a big problem for immigration reformers, as confidence that the federal government will actually secure the borders has fallen from a high of 45 percent in January.

Republicans want proof that the border has been secured to prevent further illegal immigration before allowing legalization of illegal immigrants currently in the U.S. to go forward. President Barack Obama believes the legalization process and the implementation of more border security should take place at the same time.

The survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted Oct. 20-21. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence.