A top Senate Democrat is threatening to force a federal government shutdown unless Congress does something to protect the nearly 800,000 illegal immigrants who came to this country as children who now face possible deportation. But most voters oppose a shutdown over the so-called Dreamers issue and believe securing the border is a bigger priority.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 61% of Likely U.S. Voters think it is important to secure the border against future illegal immigration before dealing with the Dreamers question, with 43% who say it is Very Important. Thirty-three percent (33%) disagree and don’t attach much importance to securing the border first, but that includes only 12% who say it’s Not At All Important. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on November 30 and December 3, 2017 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.