GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
As President Clinton discusses immigration issues during his trip this week to four Central American countries, the public at home appears to be more positive about immigration than it has been at any time in this decade.
A Gallup Poll conducted during the weekend of February 26-28, 1999 also comes days after Republican Patrick Buchanan announced his candidacy for the GOP Presidential nomination in the 2000 election. Immigration cuts have been part of the Buchanan platform in each of his two previous bids for the White House, and Buchanan has already called for a moratorium on legal immigration as part of his 2000 campaign.
While Buchanan's message was attractive to a plurality of Americans in his last campaign, the tide has shifted as the 2000 campaign begins. Fifty-eight percent of those polled oppose a five-year moratorium on legal immigration, compared to 39% in favor of it. Only three years ago, in 1996, 50% of Americans supported such a moratorium, compared to 46% who were in opposition to it.
Additionally, 51% of those polled support keeping immigration at the current level or increasing it, compared to 44% who favor lowering immigration levels. This is the first time a Gallup Poll on this issue has shown at least plurality support for increased immigration since March, 1977, when 44% of Americans supported increasing immigration or keeping it at current levels and 42% wanted a cut in immigration.
In 1993 and 1995, when NAFTA and other trade issues were in the headlines, two out of three Americans favored cuts in legal immigration.
The public is split on whether immigration helps the U.S. economy by providing low-cost labor, or hurts the U.S. economy by driving wages down for many Americans. Forty-two percent of those polled believe it helps, compared to 28% when Gallup last asked the question in 1993. At that time, 64% of those polled believed immigrants hurt the economy, a position whose support has fallen to 48% today.
Who is most likely to say that immigration hurts the economy? One of the most significant correlates of this perception is socioeconomic status. Those in lower income categories tend to be most likely to say that immigration hurts the economy, with 58% of those making less than $30,000 annually in this "hurts" category. However, this perception changes as income levels rise, with 58% of those making more than $50,000 annually saying that immigration helps the economy. This may be due to the public perception-as is shown in the latest Gallup Poll-that immigrants tend to take low-paying jobs that Americans don't want. Seven out of ten Americans agree with that statement, compared to 16% who believe immigrants take jobs that most American workers want. These attitudes, unlike others measured in the most recent poll, have not changed substantially over the past six years.
