Poll: Majority of Americans still support legal immigration

By Andrew Rice
The Center Square

A majority of Americans say that legal immigration is good for the United States, according to a new poll commissioned by The Center Square.

The poll, conducted by RMG Research in conjunction with Napolitan News Service, surveyed 1,000 registered voters across the country between Nov. 12-13. It found that 67% of registered voters said “legal immigration is good for the United States, but illegal immigration is bad.”

As few as 17% of respondents said both legal and illegal immigration are bad, whereas 10% said all immigration is good for the country.

The poll marks a decline in support for legal immigration from Napolitan’s Aug. 21 poll, which found 74% of registered voters said “legal immigration is good for the United States, but illegal immigration is bad.”

Scott Rasmussen, president of RMG Research and founder of Napolitan News Service, said this continued trend follows the public’s overall mood toward both legal and illegal immigration.

“Broadly speaking, voters have long supported legal immigration while opposing illegal immigration,” Rasmussen said.

When examining various sectors of the economy, 64% of respondents said it is “very important” to create legal immigration pathways for doctors and nurses to live and work in the United States. The number of people supporting these legal pathways is down from 71% in August.

“There has long been a strong reluctance to admit legal immigrants who might become a financial burden on society,” Rasmussen said.

Since August’s poll, the Trump administration has announced actions to increase fees associated with legal immigration pathways. President Donald Trump announced a $100,000 fee on new H-1B worker applications in September.

H-1B visas allow highly skilled immigrant workers with at least a bachelor’s degree to live and work in the United States. Congress mandates a maximum cap of 85,000 H-1B visas per year.

Foreign-born doctors and nurses can live and work in the United States on H-1B visas. The top employer petitioners for the visa are technology companies, including Meta, Apple and Amazon, according to federal data.

The poll also found that 43% of respondents said it was very important to create legal immigration pathways for IT workers to live and work in the United States.

Anna Gorisch, founder and managing partner of Kendall Immigration Law, said physicians on H-1B visas work in hospitals across the country.

“We have foreign physicians who work in places that American grads don’t want to go,” Gorisch said.

Following closely behind, 60% of American voters supported increasing legal pathways for seasonal farmworkers to live and work in the United States. This is a 2% support increase from August’s poll when 58% of respondents said it was “very important” to create legal pathways for seasonal farmworkers in August, but essentially within the polls’ margin of error.

The H-2A visa program, administered through the federal government, allows seasonal farm workers to live and work in the United States. There is no cap on the number of H-2A visas afforded to seasonal farm workers.

While there is no cap for H-2A visas, 42% of farmworkers in the United States do not have U.S. work authorization, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Interestingly, in less specialized roles, voters were more in favor of creating legal immigration pathways: 51% of voters said it was “very important” to create legal pathways for cooks and cleaners, compared to 45% who said the same in August’s survey.

Elected representatives have proposed various ideas to handle immigration policy over the past year. Some officials have proposed entirely new visa categories, others have expanded legal immigration options and some have proposed eliminating certain visa categories.

“Voters are not responding to specific policy ideas,” Rasmussen said. “Fighting illegal immigration has been Trump’s signature issue over the past decade and it dominates all policy perceptions.”

Overall, 23% of voters said there are “too many” legal immigrants, a shift from 19% who said the same in August; 41% said there are “about the right number” of legal immigrants and 14% said there are “too few.”

“It’s more of a general attitude – most appreciate the fact that Trump is addressing the problem,” Rasmussen said.