With immigration and the prospect of immigration reform now a hot topic in the news, we're thrilled to be able to cover views on this issue with the same breadth and depth with which we reported on the healthcare reform debate.
Already, we're out with the following findings:
- Republicans want immigration to be Congress' highest priority at the current time, while Democrats favor a focus on financial reform. Americans overall are more divided: 36% say immigration reform should be the highest priority versus 39% for financial reform.
- Asked about two potential goals of national immigration reform, 42% say it's extremely important that the government take steps to halt the flow of incoming illegal immigrants and 36% said it was very important that the government take steps to deal with the large number of illegal immigrants who are already in the country.
- Of those who had last week heard about Arizona's new immigration law, 51% said they favor it while 39% oppose it.
- Half of Americans in 2009 said they wanted immigration decreased and so far in 2010 the topic has barely registered on Americans' "most important problem" list.
- Finally, Gallup's global surveys provide a unique look at adults around the world who say theywould move to the U.S. if given the chance, finding them to be generally younger and less educated than those who express an interest in moving to Canada.
Gallup will continue to track U.S. and global views on immigration and migration. To make sure to get our new findings as soon as they are published, sign up for our immigration e-mail alerts and RSS feeds.