More Americans Say Immigration is a Net Positive

Americans have grown more positive toward immigration over the past year, where a record-high 79% of U.S. adults say immigration is a good thing for the country, according to a Gallup poll released on Friday.

The surge in illegal border crossings during the Biden administration triggered heightened public concern about immigration and increased demand for stricter enforcement. The Trump administration’s swift and visible response appears to have defused that concern, particularly among Republicans, the poll found.

As a result, Americans’ attitudes on immigration have largely returned to where they stood before the recent border surge, marked by broader appreciation for immigration, less desire to reduce it, and more support for pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

At the same time, support for tougher border control and aggressive deportation policies has eased since last year, with these measures mostly losing their appeal among Democrats and independents, according to the poll. 

The recent jump in perceptions of immigration being a good thing is largely owed to a sharp increase among Republicans and, to a lesser extent, independents. These groups’ views have essentially rebounded to 2020 levels after souring in the intervening years, the poll found.

Democrats’ belief that immigration is beneficial to the country is also up slightly, to a record-high 91%. However, this is generally consistent with their highly positive perspective on immigration over the past decade, with at least 80% calling it a good thing each year since 2016.

In addition to supporting increased or stable immigration levels, more Americans now favor offering undocumented immigrants pathways to citizenship, while fewer support stringent measures to deter or reverse illegal immigration.

In terms of impeding illegal immigration at the source, support for increasing the number of Border Patrol agents has declined 17 points to 59%, from 76% a year ago. And backing for expanding the U.S.-Mexico border wall has dropped eight points to 45%. This likely reflects people perceiving these measures as less necessary given the sharp drop in illegal border crossings.

Support is also lower for deporting all undocumented immigrants, with 38% now favoring this as the administration is attempting it, down from 47% last year when it was a Trump campaign promise. 

Meanwhile, support for allowing undocumented immigrants to become U.S. citizens has risen to 78%, up from 70% last year. This is also back to the level of support seen in 2019 (81%) while slightly lower than in 2016 (84%). Approval is higher still, albeit statistically unchanged, for offering individuals brought to the U.S. illegally as children a pathway to citizenship, with support holding above 80%.

Support for the Trump administration's removal of undocumented immigrants from the U.S. is mostly negative. Thirty-five percent approve of Trump's handling of the issue, including 21% strongly approving, while 62% disapprove, including 45% strongly.

These views are sharply partisan: 85% of Republicans approve of Trump’s handling of immigration, compared with 28% of independents and just 2% of Democrats. Notably, 81% of Democrats strongly disapprove, while 59% of Republicans strongly approve. Independents are much more likely to strongly disapprove (45%) than to strongly approve (14%).