Americans’ satisfaction with the level of immigration has tumbled to its lowest point in a decade of annual polling, Gallup reported Monday.
The percentage of adult respondents who said they were “very” or “somewhat satisfied” with migrant numbers fell from 34% last year to 28% this year. That’s the lowest in 10 years and is equal to January 2012, with most of the dissatisfied wanting less immigration, the polling company noted.
“The recent shift in U.S. attitudes no doubt reflects the situation at the Southern border, where the U.S. government reported a fourfold annual increase in migrants attempting to enter the U.S. in 2021, with the figure rising to 1.7 million,” Gallup said. “More than 2 million such migrant encounters occurred in 2022.”
That number “could double if a pandemic-era policy allowing border agents to expel migrants without giving them an opportunity to seek asylum is revoked,” Gallup added, citing Department of Homeland Security estimates.
The percentage of Americans expressing satisfaction with immigration in Gallup’s annual poll has fallen each year since January 2021, after having improved each year from 2019 to 2020.
According to Gallup, public satisfaction with immigration going back to 2001 was lowest in 2007 and 2008, when it hit 23% and 24%, respectively. The highest satisfaction levels were 41% and 40% in 2017 and 2018, respectively, before a six-point dip in 2019.
In this year’s survey, 63% said they were dissatisfied with immigration levels. Of that percentage, 40% said they want immigration decreased, 15% want it to stay the same and 8% want it increased.
Higher percentages of Democrats (40%) expressed satisfaction with immigration than Republicans (10%) or independents (30%). But Gallup noted a surge in Americans 55 and older who are dissatisfied with immigration because they want it decreased, from 21% last year to 55% today.
Gallup conducted the randomized national telephone survey of 1,011 adults on Jan. 2-22. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.