Gallup: 120 Million People Want to Migrate to the United States

The Gallup survey company says nearly 120 million foreigners would migrate to the United States if they are allowed to enter.

The company asked half a million people in 152 countries between 2015 and 2017 about their plans. The survey showed that the number of adults in the United States would rise by 46 percent — or 120 million people — if foreigners were freely allowed to move into the U.S.

That inflow would deliver one migrant for every two American adults.

Gallup’s Potential Net Migration Index (PNMI) also shows that the inflow of young migrants — defined as those ages 15 to 29 — would more than double the number of similar-aged young people in the United States.

The inflow would add one young migrant for every single young American in school, college or at work.

The nation’s population of people with four-year college degrees would rise by only seven percent, said Gallup.

Gallup described the methodology for measuring the number of migrants that would relocate to another country. It said:

All scores are relative to a country’s population size, and this should be kept in mind when interpreting results. For example, the PNMI for the U.S. is estimated at +46%, meaning if all adults who desire to move in and out of the country did so, the adult population would increase by 46%. With the margin of error at the 95 percent confidence level, this estimate ranges from 50 percent to 42 percent.

The Potential Net Youth Migration Index is measured on a scale of -100% (meaning the total aged 15-to-29 population of the country would leave) to infinity (meaning the potential inflow of 15- to 29-year-olds is unlimited and depends on the number who want to move in from around the world).

Gallup asked respondents two questions:

Ideally, if you had the opportunity, would you like to move permanently to another country, or would you prefer to continue living in this country?

(If “would like to move permanently to another country”) To which country would you like to move? [Open-ended, one response allowed]

Gallup’s Migration Research Center conducted the “world poll.”

According to the Department of Homeland Security, 1,127,167 migrants were granted lawful permanent resident status in the U.S. in 2017. That huge inflow delivered one legal immigrant for every four Americans who turned 18 in 2017.

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