Americans are more worried about legal immigrants committing crimes in the U.S. than they were a few years ago, a new poll shows, a change driven largely by growing concerns among Republicans while Democrats continue to see widespread benefits from immigration.
An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found that a significant share of U.S. adults believe immigrants contribute to the country’s economic growth and make important contributions to American culture. But when it comes to legal immigration, American adults see fewer major benefits and more major risks than in the past.
About 4 in 10 Americans say it is a major benefit for U.S. companies to gain access to the expertise of skilled workers in fields such as science and technology when immigrants come to the U.S. legally. A similar share (38%) also said legal immigrants make significant contributions by enriching American culture and values.
Both numbers are down from 2017, when 59% of Americans said skilled immigrant workers entering the U.S. legally were a major benefit and half said legal immigrants contributed a lot by enriching American culture Major benefits.
At the same time, the share of Americans who believe legal immigrants pose a significant risk of committing crimes in the United States has increased, from 19% in 2017 to 32% in the new poll.
Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say immigration is an important issue to them personally, with 41% now saying it is a major risk for legal immigrants committing crimes in the United States, up from 20% in 2017. Overall, Republicans are more likely to say immigration is the main risk for legal immigrants committing crimes in the United States. While their primary concern is for people entering the country illegally, they see significant risks and fewer benefits for immigrants entering the country legally and illegally.
Bob Saunders is a 64-year-old independent from Voorhees, New Jersey. He disapproves of President Joe Biden’s performance on immigration and border security and is particularly concerned about the number of migrants coming to the southern border and ultimately being released into the country. He emphasized that there is a difference between legal immigration and illegal immigration. Sanders said it’s important to understand the backgrounds of immigrants coming to the United States and said legal immigration helps the economy. He also mentioned immigrants in his own family.
“This is not anti-immigration,” Sanders said. “This is anti-illegal immigration.”
Many Republicans (71%) say there is a risk of people in the United States entering the country illegally and committing crimes, even though many studies have found that immigrants are less interested in violent crime than native-born citizens. What’s more, 80% believe people living in the country without authorization will burden public services, while about 6 in 10 Republicans worry they pose a significant risk of taking away American jobs , their population growth will weaken U.S. power. status or they would vote illegally—although only a handful of noncitizen voters were discovered.
Amber Pierce, a 43-year-old Republican from Milam, Texas, said she understands many immigrants are seeking a better life for their children, but she also worries immigrants will become a burden on government services.
“I believe a lot of them come here to get free health care and take it from citizens who have worked here,” Pierce said. “They get a free ride. I don’t think that’s fair.”
Democrats, on the other hand, are more likely to see benefits from immigration, although the poll did find that only half of Democrats now believe legal immigrants are making an important contribution to U.S. business, down 20% from 2017 Multiple percentage points. But they are more likely than Republicans to say the ability of people from other parts of the world to escape violence or find economic opportunity is extremely or very important to America’s national identity.
“People come for a good reason,” said Amy Wozniak, a Democrat from Greenwood, Indiana. “That’s why so many of us are here.” Wozniak said, Previous waves of immigrants came from European countries. Immigrants now come from different countries, but that doesn’t mean they’re not fleeing for legitimate reasons, she said: “They’re not all drugs and thugs.”
There is also a split between parties on the value of diversity, with 83% of Democrats saying the country’s population is at least slightly stronger due to its diversity, compared with 43% of Republicans and independents. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say shared American culture and values are extremely or very important to America’s identity as a country, although about half of Democrats also say this is important.
American adults, especially Republicans, are more likely to say the country has changed significantly in the past five years because of immigrants than to say immigrants have changed their own communities or states. About 3 in 10 U.S. adults say immigrants have a significant impact on local communities, while about 6 in 10 say they have a significant impact on the country as a whole. The gap between Republicans’ perceptions of the impact on communities and the impact on the country as a whole is particularly wide.
There is some bipartisan agreement on how to address immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border. The most popular option is hiring more Border Patrol agents, with about 8 in 10 Republicans and about half of Democrats supporting it. Hiring more immigration judges and court personnel is also favored by majorities on both sides of the aisle.
About half of Americans support reducing the number of migrants allowed to seek asylum in the United States upon arrival at the border, but the partisan divide is wider there, with more Republicans than Democrats supporting the strategy. Building the wall — former President Donald Trump’s signature policy goal — was the least popular and most polarizing of the four options asked. About 4 in 10 people favor building the wall, including 77% of Republicans but only 12% of Democrats.
Donna Lyon is a Democratic-leaning independent from Cortland, New York. She believes a border wall will do nothing to stop immigration. But she supports hiring more Border Patrol agents and more immigration court judges to handle the growing backlog of immigration court cases: “It would stop all the backup we have.”
Congress recently approved funding to hire about 2,000 Border Patrol agents, but funding for more immigration judges has not increased significantly so far this year. Many on both sides of the aisle say it takes too long to decide asylum cases, meaning immigrants wait years in the country, but the two parties have failed to agree on how to solve the problem.
The poll was conducted March 21-25, 2024, among a sample of 1,282 adults drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak panel, designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
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