Age and ideology shape Americans’ perception of Mexico: 60% have a negative opinion of their neighbor

The most recent Pew Research Center survey puts numbers on the long and complex relationship between the United States and Mexico and reveals the change of opinion among many Americans with respect to their southern neighbor: 60% have a negative view of Mexico compared to 37% who express a positive perception. In the case of Mexicans, the exact opposite is true. Sixty-one percent of those surveyed have a favorable stance towards the United States, while 33% do not.

Everything seems to indicate that the anti-Mexico discourse of former president Donald Trump has had a significant effect on public opinion. The same study — conducted in 2017 when the Republican had only been in the White House for a year — showed that 65% of Americans had a favorable view of Mexico compared to 29% who did not. Curiously, the same percentage of Mexicans — 29% — had a favorable opinion of their neighbor at that time. The think tank responsible for the study has clarified that the change in the methodology (it used to be conducted by telephone but is now done online) means that the results of the current survey and the one carried out seven years ago are not “directly comparable.”

Young people have a better opinion of Mexico

The survey also reveals shifts in perceptions between the two countries based on age and political affiliation. Forty-eight percent of Americans aged under 30 have a favorable opinion of Mexico, but the number drops to 25% among those aged 65 and older. Of U.S.-born Latinos, only 53% view Mexico positively, as do 30% of non-Hispanic white Americans.

There are also big differences between parties. Fifty-two percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents have a favorable stance toward Mexico, compared to 22% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. The Pew Research Center notes that views of Mexico have become more negative among supporters of both parties since 2017.

Border control and irregular immigration

As expected, Americans are more critical than Mexicans of their government’s performance in handling the huge wave of immigrants who have arrived at the border over the past few years seeking asylum. Eighty-three percent of Americans think the White House is doing a bad job in this regard, but half consider it even worse. In the case of Mexicans, 52% believe the Biden administration is not being diligent enough on the issue. The survey was conducted before illegal crossings reached their lowest levels in four years.

Likewise, the higher-income and educational sectors of both countries condemn the U.S. government’s management of the border. However, when it comes to the parties, Republicans are harsher than Democrats in judging how the situation has developed over the last four years (92% and 76%, respectively). In Mexico, supporters of the ruling party, PRI, and opponents also have similar opinions to their neighbors, but when it comes to judging President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s management of the border, two-thirds of U.S. adults say the Mexican government is doing a bad job, while 48% think the results have been extremely poor. Meanwhile, 38% of Mexicans disapprove of how their government has handled the border over the past six years, while only 9% believe the result has been very poor.

Joe Biden and Donald Trump

This is where there has been a slight change in the perception of Mexicans. While during the Trump administration nine out of 10 were against the construction of the border wall and 93% distrusted the policies of the former president, six out of 10 say they have little or no confidence in Biden but even today 86% of Mexicans still repudiate Trump. It should be noted that the survey was conducted before Biden withdrew from the presidential campaign.

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