Americans agree about immigration - even if lawmakers don't: Republican and Democratic voters want more judges and border guards and fewer asylum claims

Republicans and Democratic voters agree on more about immigration than the gridlock in Washington DC suggests.

Most voters say people flows across the southern border are a problem, and want to tackle this by hiring border guards and immigration judges and cutting the number of those seeking asylum.

That's according to a new AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll, which was carried out after a bipartisan immigration package released in Congress fell apart last month.

US President Joe Biden said the bill collapsed under pressure from Donald Trump, accusing his predecessor and likely rival in November's election of using border chaos as a campaign issue.

The survey of 1,282 adults show broad support for measures in the torpedoed legislation.

The most popular option asked about is hiring more border patrol agents, which is supported by about eight in 10 Republicans and about half of Democrats.

Hiring more immigration judges and court personnel is also favored among majorities of both parties.

About half of Americans also support cutting the number of immigrants who are allowed to seek asylum in the US when they arrive at the border.

But there's a much bigger partisan divide there, with more Republicans than Democrats favoring this strategy.

Building a wall — former President Donald Trump's signature policy goal — is the least popular and most polarizing option of the four asked about.

About four in 10 favor building a wall, including 77 percent of Republicans but just 12 percent of Democrats.

Donna Lyon is a Democratic-leaning independent voter from Cortland, New York.

She says a border wall would do little to stop migrants, but she supports hiring more border agents and more immigration court judges to deal with the growing backlog of cases.

'That would stop all the backup that we have,' Lyon told AP.

Congress just recently approved money to hire about 2,000 more Border Patrol agents but so far this year, there's been no significant boost for funding for more immigration judges.

Many on both sides of the aisle have said it takes much too long to decide asylum cases, meaning migrants stay in the country for years waiting for a decision.

Still, the parties have failed to find consensus on how to address the issue.

Americans are also more worried about legal immigrants committing crimes in the US than they were a few years ago.

This shift is driven largely by increased concern among Republicans, while Democrats continue to see a broad range of benefits from immigration, the poll shows.

Substantial shares of adults say immigrants contribute to the country's economic growth, and offer important contributions to US culture.

But when it comes to legal immigrants, US adults see fewer major benefits than they did in the past, and more major risks.

About four in 10 Americans say that when immigrants come to the US legally, it's a major benefit for American companies to get the expertise of skilled workers in fields like science and technology.

A similar share (38 percent) also say that legal immigrants contribute a major benefit by enriching American culture and values.

Both those figures were down compared with 2017, when 59 percent of Americans said skilled immigrant workers who enter the country legally were a major benefit, and half said legal immigrants contribute a major benefit by enriching American culture.

Meanwhile, the share of Americans who say that there's a major risk that legal immigrants will commit crimes in the US has increased, going from 19 percent in 2017 to 32 percent in the new poll.

Republicans were more likely than Democrats to say that immigration is an important issue for them personally, and 41 percent now say it's a major risk that legal immigrants will commit crimes in the US.

That's up from 20 percent in 2017.

Overall, Republicans are more likely to see major risks — and fewer benefits — from immigrants who enter the country legally and illegally, although they tend to be most concerned about people who come to the country illegally.

Bob Saunders is a 64-year-old independent voter from Voorhees, New Jersey.

He disapproves of Biden's performance when it comes to immigration and border security and is particularly worried about the number of immigrants coming to the southern border who are eventually released into the country.

He stressed that there's a difference between legal and illegal immigration.

Saunders said it's important to know the background of the immigrants coming to the US and said legal immigration contributes to the economy. He also noted the immigrants in his own family.

'It's not anti-immigration,' Saunders said. 'It's anti-illegal immigration.'