Poll: 61 Percent Say Immigration ‘Jeopardizes the United States’

A majority of Americans say immigration is putting the United States in jeopardy, according to a new poll obtained by Bloomberg Businessweek.

The poll, commissioned by A.T. Kearney, a global management consulting firm, found that 61 percent of Americans agreed with the statement, “continued immigration into the country jeopardizes the United States.”

A.T. Kearney’s poll of 2,590 Americans, according to Bloomberg, was conducted last October and November by research company NPD Group and is slated for release later this month.

As Bloomberg detailed, the view that immigration jeopardizes America was pervasive across age groups but highest among baby boomers, 65 percent of whom agreed with the statement. Millennials were the least likely age group to hold that view but still a majority, 55 percent, agreed “continued immigration into the country jeopardizes the United States.”

By education, it was highest among those with just a high school education or some college (65 percent), and by region it was highest in the South, including Texas (66 percent).

Bloomberg reports the findings show a more dramatic opposition to continued immigration than other polls, which word the poll questions differently.

What is clear is that Americans are more down on immigration than in past eras. As recently as 2002, the Harris Poll found that only 1 percent of Americans mentioned immigration, including refugees, when asked to name the two most important issues for the government to address. That rose to 19 percent last year.