79 percent say immigration benefits US: Poll
(The Hill) - A large majority of U.S. adults in a new survey say they believe immigration is good for the country while the number of those wanting to bar it has dropped 20 points in the last year.
Results from the latest Gallup survey, released Friday, found that 79 percent of respondents think immigration is good for the nation, while 17 percent said the opposite.
The record-high figure represents a 15 percent jump from last year, when it was around 64 percent. The number of those of who see immigration as a "bad thing" has also dropped by nearly half since 2024, when 32 percent argued it was detrimental to the U.S., the data shows.
The increase in positive perception about immigration was, in part, due to a bump among GOP voters and, to a limited degree, independents, Gallup noted. The view among Democrats that it is beneficial has also increased slightly, now hovering around 91 percent.
On the other side, around 30 percent of Americans still argue that the U.S. should decrease how many migrants come into the U.S., the latest poll found. That, however, is a 25 percent decrease from the 55 percent who held the same view in the 2024 survey.
Nearly 4-in-10 respondents, or 38 percent, said immigration should remain at current levels, while another 26 percent said that it should be increased.
The desire to curb immigration, one of President Trump's top priorities since returning to office, has dipped among voters in major parties, particularly among GOP voters, where it now sits at 48 percent — a 40-point decrease since last year, when it was at 88 percent. The view has also decreased 21 points among independents, going from 51 percent to 30 percent. Among Democratic Party voters, the sentiment declined by 12 points, now sitting at 16 percent, according to the survey.
More Americans were also in favor of providing undocumented immigrants a pathway to citizenship. The poll found 78 percent of respondents in favor of a pathway, an 8-point increase from last year.
The backing for increasing the number of Border Patrol agents at ports of entry has dropped by 17 points — going from 76 percent in 2024 to just 59 percent so far in 2025. Support for expanding the southern border wall has also decreased by 8 points to 45 percent from 54 percent the previous year, per the poll.
The Gallup survey was conducted from June 2-26 among 1,402 adults. The margin of error was 4 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.