President Trump is surging in popularity among Hispanic voters in Texas, a new poll indicates, crushing President Biden by a margin of 12 points ahead of the presidential election.

If the election were held today, 36 percent of Texas Hispanic voters polled by the Texas Politics Project would vote for Mr. Biden, while 48 percent would choose Mr. Trump. 

It’s a stunning reversal from four years ago when a similar election poll by the group in October 2020 found Mr. Biden leading by 17 points among Hispanic voters — with 54 percent supporting Mr. Biden compared to 37 percent supporting Mr. Trump. 

“Donald Trump is destroying Biden with Latino voters in Texas by a margin of 12 points,” the president of the Libre Initiative, Daniel Garza, wrote on X in reference to the poll. “Tectonic shift, if true.”

The huge shift in support could signal trouble for Mr. Biden, as he has been openly pleading for the Latino vote in recent weeks.

“Last time, you’re the reason why, in large part, I beat Donald Trump. Let’s beat him again,” Mr. Biden told Latino voters at an Arizona campaign event in March. “I need you, I need you badly. I need the help. Kamala and I desperately need your help.” 

Asked if Mr. Biden legitimately won the 2020 election, 36 percent of Hispanic voters in Texas said no and 11 percent said they weren’t sure. When asked what the most important problem facing the country is, abortion ranked last for Hispanics behind seven other issues, including inflation, immigration, border security, political corruption, climate change, and gun control. 

Well over half of Hispanic respondents see the border as a major issue  — the number of migrants crossing the southern border is “a crisis” in the view of 45 percent of Hispanic voters in Texas, and “a very serious problem, but not a crisis” in the view of another 22 percent.

On state-level issues, the poll found that 53 percent of Hispanic voters support or strongly support making it a state crime for undocumented immigrants to be in Texas. A federal appeals court is weighing the legality of legislation that would do just that, as the Sun has reported. 

55 percent of Hispanic voters somewhat or strongly support constructing physical barriers and repairing walls along the border between Texas and Mexico — and 88 percent are concerned about the migrants crossing the border when it comes to the impact on crime, according to the poll.