A record number of Americans in the latest Gallup Poll say they believe that more immigration is a positive thing for the United States. The new poll, released on Thursday, said that fully 75 percent of Americans are of the opinion that immigration is good for the nation, while just 19 percent said it is bad for the country. According to Gallup,the percentage of poll respondents who indicated that immigration is positive went up 4 percentage points when compared to their 2017 poll asking the same questions.
Gallup’s poll was published at a time when there is a fierce immigration debate in Washington that is dividing the country and causing an international uproar. On Thursday Republicans failed to pass an immigration reform bill and on Friday President Trump went on Twitter suggesting that the GOP give up on trying to pass any immigration legislation.
In the meantime, thousands of children have been taken from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border while attempting to come into the country without proper documentation, many of whom are seeking asylum status. Some of these children may never be reunited with their parents due to a lack of a U.S. government policy or program to do this.
And still, lurking the background, is the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that Trump failed to renew, threatening deportation of hundreds of thousands of immigrants who came into the country illegally as children. Polls have always shown that most Americans do not approve of what Trump and the Republicans are doing, and want the DACA program extended.
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Gallup found that there is 84 percent for “legal immigration” with just 13 percent opposed. On top of that, according to Gallup:
“A record-low number of Americans — 29% — say that immigration into the U.S. should be decreased. A plurality of 39% think immigration into the U.S. should be kept at its present level, while 28% say it should be increased. These results mark a six-point drop from one year ago in the percentage of those preferring a reduction in immigration.”
Very importantly, Gallup found that “the change in ‘decreased’ sentiment was roughly uniform across party affiliation.” This means that both Republicans and Democrats, as well as independents, do not favor the president’s hard line immigration policies.
Trump in his Friday tweetstorm said there would be a “Red Wave” election in November, sweeping more Republicans into Congress. However, with the polls showing that large numbers of Americans do not like his immigration policies and actions, there is much more likely to be a Blue Wave instead.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
