WASHINGTON — The share of Americans who would like to see fewer immigrants in the country has continued to decline despite President Donald Trump’s push to restrict both legal and illegal migration, a new poll showed Thursday.
The survey provides the latest evidence that the bloc of voters who support further immigration restrictions remain a distinct minority in the U.S., albeit one with disproportionate clout given their sway within the Trump administration.
As recently as 2001, a majority of Americans said that they would like to see lower levels of legal immigration. But support for tighter immigration restrictions has steadily declined. Currently only about one-quarter of Americans take that position.
By contrast, support for higher levels of immigration has gone from about one-tenth of Americans in the early 2000s to about one-third today, the poll showed. About four in 10 support keeping current levels.
The biggest shift has taken place among Democrats, whose support for greater levels of legal immigration has shot up in the past three years, probably at least partly in reaction to Trump’s assaults on immigrants. About 40 percent of Democrats and independents who lean toward the Democrats said they favor increased immigration, and a similar share favor keeping current levels. Liberal Democrats and those younger than 50 show especially strong support for higher immigration levels, the poll showed.
Even among Trump’s fellow Republicans, however, the restrictionist camp has lost ground. Support for cutting legal immigration has declined about 10 percentage points among Republicans and independents who lean toward the GOP over the past decade.
As Americans have shifted toward favoring higher levels of legal immigration, they also have grown less likely to favor punitive action against those who entered illegally.
About two-thirds of Americans reject the idea that granting legal status to some immigrants who entered illegally is a “reward for doing something wrong.” The share who see legal status as a reward for wrongdoing has dropped in the past two years, especially among Democrats.
Asked if they believed immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally were more likely than U.S. citizens to commit serious crimes, about two-thirds of Americans said no. Democrats and independents who lean Democratic overwhelmingly rejected that view. Republicans were closely divided, with conservative Republicans agreeing by 47 percent to 40 percent and moderates disagreeing by 57 percent to 33 percent.