Does immigration help or hinder the US? Poll finds big shift in Republican responses

Brendan Rascius, The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.) on Jan 9, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

Americans have long been divided on immigration, a perennial issue in U.S. politics.

But the partisan divide, at least when it comes to one question about immigration, has grown in recent years.

The latest YouGov poll asked respondents whether immigration makes America better off, whether legal immigration should be increased and whether more H-1B visas should be given out.

The findings come just days before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, who has made immigration a cornerstone issue of his three presidential campaigns.

Conducted between Jan. 5 to 8, the poll sampled 1,704 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of about 3 percentage points.

Does it make the U.S. better or worse off?

Slightly more respondents said immigration makes the U.S. worse off (34%) than said it makes the country better off (31%).

Meanwhile, 21% said it does not make a huge difference, while 14% said they were not sure.

Unsurprisingly, responses were largely split along partisan lines, with 62% of Republicans saying immigration makes the country worse and just 11% of Democrats saying the same.

This glaring partisan divide is due to a dramatic shift in Republican opinion in recent years, with the share of GOP respondents who say immigration makes the U.S. worse rising 19 points since 2018. Meanwhile, the share of Democrats who say immigration makes the country worse has held steady.

Increase or decrease the number of legal immigrants?

Only a small fraction of respondents, 17%, said they’re in favor of increasing legal immigration to the U.S., while 28% said they favor keeping it at current levels.

Meanwhile, 41% of respondents said they would support either decreasing (31%) or eliminating (10%) legal immigration.

Again, the responses were heavily skewed based on partisan affiliation.

A majority of Democrats said they supported increasing legal immigration (30%) or keeping it at current levels (31%). In contrast, most GOP respondents said they favor either decreasing legal immigration (41%) or reducing it to zero (21%).

About 1 million green cards — which authorize a person to live and work in the U.S. permanently — are issued every year, according to the Brookings Institution, a think tank.

Increase or decrease H-1B visas?

The poll also asked respondents for their opinions on H-1B visas, which are used by American employers to temporarily hire foreign employees for jobs requiring a college degree and specialized skills. The visas are generally valid for a maximum of six years.

A plurality of respondents, 34%, said they would not change the number of H-1B visas issued each year, while 17% said they would increase the number allotted annually.

Twenty percent said they would decrease the number, and 7% said they would bring it to zero. Another 22% said they were not sure.

Nearly two-thirds of Democrats, 65%, said they would increase or keep steady the amount of visas handed out each year. In contrast, 19% said they would decrease the number or reduce it to zero.

Meanwhile, 44% of GOP respondents said they would increase or leave unchanged the number of visas allotted, while 38% said they would decrease the number or bring it to zero.

_____