For first time, more want increased immigration instead of decrease: Gallup

A record number of Americans want more immigration instead of less, according to a new Gallup poll.

This is the first time in the pollster’s decades of tracking the country’s thoughts on immigration that more people would favor more immigration compared to those who want to see less.

Of those surveyed, 34 percent said that they want to see the U.S.’s level of immigration increase, while 28 percent said they want to see it decreased. Thirty-six percent said that the country’s immigration rate should remain the same.

Conducted May 28-June 4, the survey was completed before the Trump administration stopped the issuing of any new H-1B and other visas through the end of the year. It also came before the Supreme Court ruled that the administration’s rollback of the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Act was illegal.

The results were split heavily among party lines.

Of those surveyed who identified as Democrats, 50 percent said that they wanted to see immigration increase and 34 percent of independents said the same. Both of those marked an increase from when Gallup last asked the question in 2018.

Just 13 percent of Republicans said they would welcome a boost in immigration, a decrease from 2018.

Overall, 77 percent of respondents said that immigration is a good thing for the U.S., while 19 percent said that it was a bad thing.