Thursday 18 August 2022 05:28 PM Poll: 53% of Americans say there is an 'invasion' at the southern border trends now

More than half of Americans believe that the situation at the southern border amounts to an 'invasion' while another third of respondents in a new poll expressed worry over being replaced by illegal immigrants.

The new NPR/Ipsos poll released Thursday shows an overall decline in support for immigration as new images emerge every day of hundreds to thousands of migrants crossing illegally over the southern border.

Aerial video from the southern border on Thursday shared by Fox News showed yet another large group, this time of approximately 150 mostly single adults, arriving in Eagle Pass, Texas after illegally traversing the Rio Grande River from Mexico.

Despite the images and harrowing journey leading to deaths of migrants, Democrats claim there is no crisis at the border and have downplayed President Joe Biden's policies as contributing to the cause of record-breaking migration numbers.

Meanwhile, 28 percent of Americans say it is 'completely true' that there is an 'invasion' at the southern border and another 25 percent say the statement is 'somewhat true.'

Just 19 percent of respondents say the claims of invasion are 'completely false' and another 27 percent say they 'don't know' about that classification.

The so-called replacement theory is a conspiracy that 'elites' are deliberately replacing white people born in America with immigration and people of color.

The survey taken July 28-29 of 1,116 American adults shows that more than one-third of respondents agree with the statement that 'native-born Americans are being systematically replaced by immigrants'.

When just considering Republican respondents, that figure jumps to more than 50 percent.

While nearly half of the 1.82 million migrants who arrived in the U.S. so far in Fiscal Year 2022 were expelled from the country under pandemic-era Title 42.

But the hundreds of thousands of others were permitted to seek asylum in the U.S.

A report based on sources with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) claims that the agency has encountered more than 2 million migrants crossing the southern border illegally.

Footage also captured by Fox News on Wednesday shows the moment Border Patrol agents opened the gates at the southern border to allow illegal migrants through - just after Texas National Guard officers had locked it.

The armed agents, who work under the direction of the Biden administration, unbuckle the barbed-wire fence before several asylum seekers - including men, women and children - walked through.

Agents then stood around chatting and finally shut the barrier between Mexico and the US after dozens had filed past them into the country, as the Texas National Guard watched on helplessly.

The video was roundly slammed online, with Texas Governor Greg Abbott leading the charge by branding it 'unbelievable' and blaming Joe Biden's border policies for the influx.

It comes amid a surging crisis in the US as migrants from across South America ditch their homes and trek thousands of miles in search of a better life in the States. At least two million are reported to have entered the country already this year, setting a new national record dating back 22 years.

Meanwhile Abbott has been sending bus loads of them up to New York to try to ease the pressure in Texas, causing Big Apple Mayor Eric Adams to offload them into luxury hotels across the city.

The latest footage was captured by Fox News's border reporting team, using drones. They said it was the first time they had seen such a scenario. It also underscores the differing approach by the state and federal teams.

Bill Melugin, Fox's correspondent on the border, tweeted it was the first time he had seen the National Guard locking the gate and standing guard. He said: 'Border Patrol opening gates etc to allow migrants in is not new.

'They have to process migrants on U.S. soil per federal law. What's new is TX is now closing the gate & denying entry at this major crossing location. Always open in months past, including this video I shot in May.'

Abbott deployed the Texas National Guard in March 2021, terming the mission Operation Lone Star. Since then the operation has ramped up to see 10,000 troops deployed along the border.

On Wednesday, he said he was outraged by the CBP's actions. 'Unbelievable,' he tweeted. 'While Texas secures the border, the federal government is enabling illegal immigration.

'Biden's open border policies caused this crisis. The federal government must do its job & fix it.'

Abbott is know for taking headline-grabbing measures to deal with the situation on the border, amid record-breaking arrivals, and his own re-election campaign ahead of the November election.

He launched this spring a policy of sending migrants from Texas to Washington DC on buses, if they chose, in a bid to take the problem directly to the capital.

Abbott in August extended the program to New York City, and the Republican governor of Arizona, Doug Ducey, has followed suit. So far, 10,000 migrants have been bussed north.

Under the Biden administration, CBP agents are told to focus their energies on processing migrants, rather than blocking their entry. Some agents expressed their anger at being taken away from the border duties.

'I know the policies of this administration are not particularly popular with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, but that's the reality, and let's see what we can do within that framework,' said Alejandro Mayorkas, the Homeland Security Secretary, in an address to CBP agents in January.

The new video came as CBP sources reportedly revealed total arrivals for the fiscal year 2022 had now surpassed two million - setting a new national record.