A new poll of over 7000 registered voters in seven battleground states conducted October 8-13, 2020 shows strong support for immigrants and immigration, although with partisan divides.
Echoing findings from Gallup this past summer, solid majorities of those polled in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin believed that the U.S. should maintain or increase its current levels of immigration, with higher percentages favoring increased, rather than decreased levels of immigration. Majorities in all states believed that immigrants come to the U.S. to work and fill jobs Americans don’t want, rather than to take public benefits or jobs away from Americans.
Solid majorities also agreed that the U.S. should make legal immigration easier, and that those with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status, and undocumented individuals who have lived in the U.S. long term, should have a path to legal status. Those polled also supported providing a path to permanent status for undocumented immigrants who have served as essential workers during the pandemic.
While politicians assume that immigration is a divisive issue they shouldn’t touch, repeated polls in 2020 appear to show that the public is increasingly supportive of immigration, despite partisan differences.
You can read the full poll results here.