The Washington Examiner — Dissatisfaction with the current level of immigration has risen six percentage points since 2014.
Six in 10 American adults — or 60 percent — say they are dissatisfied with the level of immigration, and a majority of those want fewer people coming in the United States, according to a new Gallup poll. Dissatisfaction is even spiking among Democrats.
This spike in unhappiness about immigration — up from 54 percent in 2014, but considerably lower than the high of 72 percent in 2008 — comes on the heels of President Obama’s executive actions on immigration but before congressional Republicans flubbed efforts to tighten border controls. The poll was conducted in the first full week of January. Leaders in the GOP-controlled House Monday failed to put a border security bill up for a vote.
Gallup’s finding indicate a mere 33 percent of U.S. adults are satisfied with immigration levels.
The desired level of immigration is one of the few issues part of Gallup’s annual “Mood of the Nation” poll that saw such a drop in satisfaction — or corresponding climb in dissatisfaction.
Nearly two in five (39 percent) of overall poll respondents want to see less immigration into the U.S., the poll found — though the particulars of legal or illegal immigration were not part of the question. Only 7 percent support increased immigration, while 14 percent claimed to be dissatisfied but nevertheless to want keep immigration at its current rate.
More than four out of every five (84 percent) self-identified Republicans said they are dissatisfied with the current level of immigration. Roughly 44 percent of Democrats and 54 percent of independents polled felt the same way.
Despite the large gap between the political groups, dissatisfaction among Democrats has increased by eight points between 2014 and 2015.
The random telephone poll of 804 U.S. adults was done Jan. 5-8, with a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.
