Ahead of November election, immigration is top issue for the first time in 5 years
For the first time in five years, immigration ranks as the top U.S. issue, according to a new Gallup poll.
The poll, which was released on Tuesday, found that more people (28 percent) are increasingly naming immigration as the most important issue facing the country. The results were released just days before both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are set to visit border communities in Texas.
Border issues have become a dominant topic this election year on the heels of Super Tuesday, with various cities across the country struggling to support an influx of migrants.
Another immigration opinion poll supporting these findings was also released this week. According to the latest national Monmouth University Poll, 6 in 10 people consider immigration to be a “very serious problem.” The poll found there was higher public concern about illegal immigration during President Biden’s term than there were in the two previous administrations. For the first time since 2015, a majority of Americans said they support building a border wall.
“Illegal immigration has taken center stage as a defining issue this presidential election year,” Patrick Murray, the director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, said in a statement. “Other Monmouth polling found this to be Biden’s weakest policy area, including among his fellow Democrats.”
According to the Monmouth University poll, less than half of the population heard about recent bill negotiations regarding the U.S.-Mexico border. Of those who were aware, 33 percent opposed the legislation, 23 percent said they favored it and others said they had no opinion.
The bill, which failed to pass, would have also supplied overseas aid to Ukraine and Israel. It was heavily opposed by Republicans, who were in favor of enacting stricter border security legislation.
Nearly all Republicans and some Democrats voted against the border deal earlier this month; almost half of the public, however, places equal blame on both parties. Thirty-six percent said the GOP is more responsible for blocking the bill.
Almost half of respondents — including 77 percent of Republicans and nearly half of independents — said the border bill was not tough enough on illegal immigration, and 12 percent said it was too severe. Fifty-one percent of Democrats said it was about right.
“These results illustrate why the border deal was dead on arrival,” Murray said. “The vast majority of rank and file Republicans and many independents believe it is too soft on illegal immigration, even if they don’t know exactly what’s in the legislation. Senate GOP leadership could have tried to sell the bill, but that would have almost certainly been fruitless once Donald Trump weighed in against it.”
The Monmouth poll also found that 61 percent of Americans think asylum seekers should stay in Mexico while they process their claims and 32 percent said illegal immigrants were more likely to commit violent crimes. Research on this claim does not bear out, however.
According to the Gallup poll, a record-high 55 percent said illegal immigration is a “critical threat to U.S. vital interests,” though just 28 percent think they take jobs away from American citizens, though there is ample evidence to the contrary.
The Gallup report found that Republicans, who are more likely to name immigration as the most pressing problem, were largely responsible for the increase in mentions this month. Fifty-seven percent of Republicans said immigration is the most important issue — up 20 percent from January.