Current Events > Record high 75% of Americans say immigration is a good thing

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://news.gallup.com/poll/235793/record-high-americans-say-immigration-good-thing.aspx

A record-high 75% of Americans, including majorities of all party groups, think immigration is a good thing for the U.S. -- up slightly from 71% last year. Just 19% of the public considers immigration a bad thing.

The latest findings are based on a Gallup poll conducted June 1-13, a key time for immigration reform in the U.S. as the House of Representatives debates the issue. The House will vote this week on two pieces of legislation that address several key immigration policy reforms. Among them are the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) protections for immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally at a young age with their parents and the border wall that has been the cornerstone of President Donald Trump's immigration policy.

At the same time, Trump has been under strong bipartisan pressure to amend the "zero-tolerance" policy that resulted in the separation from their parents of more than 2,000 children of migrants illegally crossing the U.S. border from Mexico in recent months. Trump bowed to the pressure on Wednesday, signing an executive order to keep children and their parents in the same location.

Meanwhile, proposed legislation by conservative members of Congress would include actions to cut back on the number of immigrants allowed to enter the U.S. legally. Republican legislators are facing a public that is largely supportive of immigration into the U.S., in general. In all but one year since Gallup started asking this question in 2001, majorities of Americans across party lines have viewed immigration as positive for the U.S. The exception came in 2002, when slightly less than half of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents thought immigration was a good thing, although 58% of Democrats and Democratic leaners held this view. So a majority nationally, 52%, were still positive. This was recorded about nine months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks were committed by hijackers holding legal visas. Currently, 85% of Democrats and Democratic leaners and 65% of Republicans and Republican leaners view immigration positively.

Given attempts by the Trump administration to cut back on legal immigration, Gallup tested an alternative wording to this question for the first time this year -- asking half of the respondents about "legal immigration," whereas the trend question does not specify a particular type of immigration. Americans are more likely to support legal immigration, with 84% describing it as a good thing, nine percentage points higher than the reading for "immigration."

Eighty percent of Republicans and leaners and 92% of Democrats and leaners say legal immigration is a good thing for the U.S.

Corroborating the data that show Americans believe immigration is good for the country, a separate Gallup trend question shows a record-low number of Americans -- 29% -- saying 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. In the past 20 years, the highest reading for those calling for a decrease in immigration levels was in October 2001, about a month after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S.

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Immigration is what makes America - American
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Immigration IS good for the US. That doesn't mean open borders.
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Veggeta X posted...

Immigration is what makes America - American

So, let's make America Great Again?
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How many of those say that illegal immigration is a good thing?
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I think with polls like this all that matters is how the question is being asked (and to who).

If the question is supposed to be "is immigration a good thing?", but it's being asked like:

A) Do you support illegal migrants coming into the border and taking up resources paid for by your taxes?

OR

B) Do you support legal migration of skilled workers who contribute skills and expertise and culture to the US economy?

You're going to have very different answers, even though both are ways of asking "Is immigration a good thing?"
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Of course some immigration is good

We want the best and brightest here
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pinky0926 posted...

I think with polls like this all that matters is how the question is being asked (and to who).

Their wording:

On the whole, do you think immigration is a good thing or a bad thing for this country today?
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s0nicfan posted...

That doesn't mean open borders.

It was never open borders.

Paragon21XX posted...

How many of those say that illegal immigration is a good thing?

Illegal immigration is very subjective to Repubs, though.
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water is wet
sky is blue
etc

Antifar posted...

pinky0926 posted...

I think with polls like this all that matters is how the question is being asked (and to who).

Their wording:

On the whole, do you think immigration is a good thing or a bad thing for this country today?

Do you know how the answers were collected? Like a scale of 1-5 or a Yes/No? Was any context given prior to the question?

I'm not trying to be a shit-stirrer but I have a general suspicion of statistics without context.
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Illegal immigration is bad.

But finding violent drug dealers who sneaked past the border in the middle of the night is more important than arresting and deporting a 50 year old doctor with an american wife and american kids who overstayed his visa 30 years ago.

I mean, they're both illegals. But one of them is clearly more of a risk than the other.
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pinky0926 posted...

I think with polls like this all that matters is how the question is being asked (and to who).

If the question is supposed to be "is immigration a good thing?", but it's being asked like:

A) Do you support illegal migrants coming into the border and taking up resources paid for by your taxes?

OR

B) Do you support legal migration of skilled workers who contribute skills and expertise and culture to the US economy?

You're going to have very different answers, even though both are ways of asking "Is immigration a good thing?"

which is why neither of them is a good way to ask that question, and lead to biased results.

that's the fucking point bro
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pinky0926 posted...

Do you know how the answers were collected? Like a scale of 1-5 or a Yes/No? Was any context given prior to the question?

Possible answers were Good Thing or Bad Thing

And, at any rate, it's the same question wording they've been using since 2001
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pinky0926 posted...

I think with polls like this all that matters is how the question is being asked (and to who).

If the question is supposed to be "is immigration a good thing?", but it's being asked like:

A) Do you support illegal migrants coming into the border and taking up resources paid for by your taxes?

OR

B) Do you support legal migration of skilled workers who contribute skills and expertise and culture to the US economy?

You're going to have very different answers, even though both are ways of asking "Is immigration a good thing?"

This and I am all up for immigration contributing to our society.

Hell yeah. More womam that might be desperate enough for citizenship. I'll take these odds.