U.S. opinion on immigrants sours
http://www.galluppoll.com/content/?ci=28132
July 13, 2007 Americans Have Become More Negative on Impact of Immigrants Hispanics remain much more positive than whites or blacks
by Frank Newport GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ — Americans have become more negative about the impact
of immigrants on various dimensions of life in the United States than
was the case in the earlier years of this decade. Americans continue
to believe that immigrants to the United States have improved food,
music, and the arts, although less so than in 2001 and 2002.
Americans say that immigrants have had little net impact on taxes
either way. On the other hand, Americans believe that immigrants have
tended to make crime, the economy, social and moral values, and job
opportunities worse rather than better. The perceived impact of
immigrants on all of these except job opportunities has become more
negative this year.
The more negative views of immigrants may, to a significant degree,
reflect the overall mood of Americans this year. Most of Gallup’s
broad measures, at this point, are very negative — including ratings
of overall satisfaction, ratings of the economy, and ratings of the
president and Congress.
The high visibility given to national efforts to reform policies
dealing with illegal immigration may also have had an effect on
overall attitudes toward immigration.
These results are based on a question asked in Gallup’s annual
Minority Rights and Relations survey. The poll was conducted June
4-24, 2007, interviewing 2,388 adults nationwide, including 868 non-
Hispanic whites, 802 non-Hispanic blacks, and 502 Hispanics. The
total sample is weighted to reflect the proper proportions of each
group in the U.S. population. About one-quarter of the interviews
with Hispanics were conducted in Spanish, with the remainder in English.
The basic results of the question on the impact of immigration are as
follows:
For each of the following areas, please say whether immigrants to the
United States are making the situation in the country better or
worse, or not having much effect. How about — [RANDOM ORDER]?
net
not better
much minus
2007 Jun 4-24 Better Worse effect worse based on “better” (sorted by “total”) food, music, and the arts 40 9 46 31 The economy in general 28 46 23 -18 Social and moral values 19 37 41 -18 Job opportunities for you and you 12 34 52 -22 Taxes 11 55 28 -44 The crime situation 4 58 34 -54
As can be seen, ratings of the impact of the six areas tested vary
widely.
In terms of the perceived net impact of immigrants — the percentage
who say things have been made better minus the percentage who say
things have been made worse — the range is from a net plus of 31
points for “food, music, and the arts” to a minus 54 points for “the
crime situation.”
More generally, only one area is in net positive territory — food,
music, and the arts. The others are all in negative territory.
The trends on most of the dimensions tested have become more negative
compared to earlier this decade. The only dimension to show no
significant change has been job opportunities. Americans even rate
the lone item they see immigrants as changing for the better — food,
music, and the arts — less positively than they did in 2001.
There are significant differences by race and ethnic groups in these
perceptions:
For each of the following areas, please say whether immigrants to the
United States are making the situation in the country better or
worse, or not having much effect.
Net: % better minus % worse
non-Hisp
2007 Jun 4-24 Total whites Blacks Hispanics
Food, music, and the arts 31 29 20 60 The economy in general -18 -25 -30 30 Social and moral values -18 -26 -13 23 Job opportunities for you and you -22 -27 -38 16 Taxes -44 -54 -44 8 The crime situation -54 -61 -49 -30
On every dimension, Hispanics are much more positive about the impact
of immigrants than are non-Hispanic whites and blacks. The only
dimension on which Hispanics have a net negative rating of the impact
of immigrants is the crime situation. The more positive views of
Hispanics may not be surprising, given that 46% of Hispanics in the
sample were themselves not born in the United States.
Blacks are more negative than whites (and Hispanics) about the impact
of immigrants on job opportunities, and slightly more negative than
whites about the impact of immigrants on the economy. On the other
hand, blacks are less negative than whites on each of the other
dimensions included in the survey.
Bottom Line
The data make it clear that Americans are more negative about the
impact of immigrants on life in the United States than they have been
in the previous years of this decade. Americans have become
particularly more negative about immigration’s impact on food, music,
and the arts, social and moral values, and the economy.
There is little doubt that two factors are related to these more
negative attitudes. First, there is the intense focus on immigration
and its effects brought about by the debate on immigration reform
legislation that was in full swing as these interviews were being
conducted. Second, Americans are more negative in general these days
than they have been — attitudes that, to a degree, affect many
dimensions tested in polling questions.
Hispanics, about half of whom are immigrants themselves (and most of
whose parents or grandparents were immigrants), are much more
positive about the net impact of immigration than non-Hispanic whites
and blacks. Blacks in turn, are more negative than whites about the
impact of immigrants on job opportunities, although generally more
positive about the other dimensions tested.