A new poll, to be released later this month in its entirety, finds 61 percent of Americans surveyed believe “continued immigration [both legal and illegal]into the country jeopardizes the United States.” The poll, commissioned by A.T. Kearney consulting firm, was conducted between October and November 2015 and included 2,590 respondents.
A majority of all the groups surveyed found immigration to be hurtful. Sixty-five percent of baby boomers agreed, while 55 percent of millennials did. Baby boomers were likely driven by their concerns that immigrants could take health care, Social Security and other services away. Millennials, on the other hand, were likely cognizant of immigration’s impact on their job prospects in terms of lower wages and fewer opportunities.
The bottom line is that immigration is becoming more important to Americans. As recently as 2002, a Harris poll found that only 1 percent of Americans mentioned immigration as one of the top two most important issues for the government to address. Last year, 19 percent did.