Democrats' Fear About 'Critical Threat' of Immigrants is Growing

The number of Democrats who view immigration as a "critical threat" negatively affecting the United States has risen, according to a new Gallup poll.

Illegal immigration continues to remain a major issue on a national scale, evident by both President Joe Biden and Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump visiting the Texas cities of Brownsville and Eagle Pass, respectively, on Thursday. Biden plans to meet with federal Border Patrol agents while Trump will enter an immigration epicenter that has drawn critique from Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

More Americans now (28 percent) name immigration as the most important problem facing the nation than they did a month ago (20 percent), according to the Gallup poll released on Tuesday. Previously, government was cited as the biggest problem each month from January through November 2023.

"Normally in order for something to score high, it's got to be getting a lot of media attention—especially an issue like this that isn't often top of mind for people like the economy or government," Gallup Senior Editor Jeff Jones told Newsweek via phone on Wednesday.

It's the first time since July 2019 that immigration has been viewed as more concerning than government or the economy. Immigration was also ranked as the No. 1 problem in July 2018, November 2018 and July 2014, according to polling that began compiling immigration views in 1981.

And while Democratic respondents' concerns over the issue only increased 1 percentage point between January and February (from 9 to 10 percent), those saying that large numbers of illegal immigrants are a "critical" problem that requires action has reached 29.5 percent—the highest number since prior to 2018.

In comparison, about 47.2 percent of Democrats called immigration a critical threat in 2004. Another approximate 50 percent of Democrats currently view the issue as important but not critical.

Jones said that although Democratic numbers barely moved month over month, he said Democratic sentiment has "inched up" since the fall. It may be the highest that numbers get among those voters, depending on how immigration numbers look in the coming months coupled with the media attention they get.

He said the recent failed immigration legislation in Congress, combined with Republicans' attempts to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, has made immigration a huge political football.

"It's kind of a tricky issue," Jones said. "There's a couple issues that seem to be important to one side than the other....Republicans have a lot of incentive to keep [immigration relevant] because it stirs up a lot of emotions."

As immigration remains important to most Republicans, he said the same could be said for issues like climate change and the environment for Democrats.

Biden, who has faced scrutiny during his first term as record-high numbers of migrant encounters have overwhelmed the southern border, is weighing using executive action to derail consistent flows. The president and members of his party have blamed Republicans, as those in the Senate killed a $118 billion immigration bill earlier this month that likely would have never been supported in the House, according to Speaker Mike Johnson.

Immigration is seen as the most important issue among Republicans, rising 20 points between January and February (from 37 percent to 57 percent). Independent voters are also becoming increasingly concerned, though the jump was a more modest 6 percent month-over-month change.

However, both Republicans (89.6 percent) and independents (53.3 percent) view immigration as a more critical problem now than previously, even going back 20 years, according to more comprehensive Gallup data provided to Newsweek.

In total, a record-high 55 percent of U.S. adults—up eight points from last year—believe that "large numbers of immigrants entering the United States illegally" is a critical threat to U.S. vital interests. It surpasses the previous high of 50 percent in 2004.

While southern Americans typically view the issue as a bigger problem than those in other parts of the nation, the newest poll shows that concerns of residents of regions in the U.S. East (36 percent) outnumber concerns in the South (31 percent).

Respondents in the Midwest (25 percent) and West (22 percent) follow, with the latter including states like California and Colorado that have experienced upticks in migrant surges in the past few years.

Update 2/28/24, 12:15 p.m. ET: This story was updated with comment from Jeff Jones.