Earlier this month, Townhall covered how numbers released by Gallup showed that Americans were unhappy with most aspects of the country, especially the nation's morals. In the write-up, Gallup acknowledged that issues like inflation have likely contributed to Americans' views. A new poll published this week shows that Americans are largely dissatisfied with another major issue facing the country.
Americans' dissatisfaction with the country's immigration levels has increased as the border crisis continues to worsen, according to a Gallup poll published Monday.
In the poll, 28 percent of Americans reported feeling satisfied with the level of immigration into the United States. In Jan. 2022, this was 34 percent. This year it's the lowest level in a decade.
According to the write-up, immigration consistently ranked near the bottom of Gallup's list of satisfaction ratings from 2001 to 2016. Since then, it consistently ranks in the bottom half:
In the latest poll, conducted Jan. 2-22, satisfaction with immigration is on par with the quality of public education (29% satisfied) and policies to reduce or control crime (27%) but ahead of efforts to address poverty (15%) and the nation’s campaign finance laws (14%).
The recent shift in U.S. attitudes no doubt reflects the situation at the Southern border, where the U.S. government reported a fourfold annual increase in migrants attempting to enter the U.S. in 2021, with the figure rising to 1.7 million. More than 2 million such migrant encounters occurred in 2022. And the Department of Homeland Security estimates the figure could double if a pandemic-era policy allowing border agents to expel migrants without giving them an opportunity to seek asylum is revoked.
Many of the 63 percent of Americans who said they are "dissatisfied" with immigration levels say that they want the levels to decrease. A mere 8 percent said they want to see immigration increase, and 15 percent say they want levels to remain the same or that they are unsure:
The percentage who are dissatisfied out of a desire for less immigration has risen sharply over the past two years, increasing from 19% in 2021 to 35% in 2022 and 40% today. This is still not as high as it was in the first few years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, when it ranged from 44% to 52%, but is the highest since 2016.
Broken down by political party, 71 percent of Republicans are dissatisfied with immigration levels as being too high, as are 36 percent of independents and 19 percent of Democrats. The 71 percent of Republicans is the highest ever recorded for this party.
Fifty-two percent of Democrats, 39 percent of independents, and 14 percent of Republicans are satisfied with immigration levels or want to see them increase.
"Amid news of the migrant surge along the border with Mexico and the humanitarian and political problems arising from it, Americans across the political spectrum have grown less content with the level of U.S. immigration in recent years," the write-up concluded.
