{"id":13223,"date":"2015-09-30T11:00:26","date_gmt":"2015-09-30T16:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/on-views-of-immigrants-americans-largely-split-along-party-lines\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:19:17","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:19:17","slug":"on-views-of-immigrants-americans-largely-split-along-party-lines","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2015\/09\/30\/on-views-of-immigrants-americans-largely-split-along-party-lines\/","title":{"rendered":"On views of immigrants, Americans largely split along party lines"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: left;\">When it comes to how Americans view the impact of immigration on U.S. society and life, there\u2019s a big partisan gap \u2013 a gap once again reflected in the nation\u2019s politics, particularly in the Republican presidential campaign.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nearly 59 million immigrants have come to the U.S. since Congress passed the nation\u2019s 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, which <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/hispanic\/2015\/09\/28\/modern-immigration-wave-brings-59-million-to-u-s-driving-population-growth-and-change-through-2065\/\">reshaped the face of America<\/a>. Three-quarters of immigrants in this current wave come from Latin America and Asia. Today, there are 45 million immigrants in the U.S. who make up a near-record 14% of the U.S. population, including an estimated <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2015\/07\/22\/unauthorized-immigrant-population-stable-for-half-a-decade\/\">11.3 unauthorized immigrants<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2015\/09\/30\/on-views-of-immigrants-americans-largely-split-along-party-lines\/ft_15-09-28_immigrationparty_420px2\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-273938\"><img data-dominant-color=\"ede9e0\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #ede9e0;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"420\" height=\"577\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/09\/FT_15.09.28_immigrationParty_420px2.png?resize=420,577 420w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" class=\"wp-image-24398 not-transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/09\/FT_15.09.28_immigrationParty_420px2.png\" alt=\"U.S. Views of Immigrants, by Party\" ><\/a><\/figure>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Overall, Americans have mixed views about the impact immigrants have had on American society, with 45% saying they are making society better in the long run and 37% saying they are making it worse, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/hispanic\/2015\/09\/28\/chapter-4-u-s-public-has-mixed-views-of-immigrants-and-immigration\/\">Pew Research Center survey<\/a> conducted in March and April.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But the partisan divide on this question is more pronounced. About half of Republicans (53%) say immigrants coming to the U.S. make society worse in the long run, compared with just 24% of Democrats.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On specific issues, the survey also found:<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><!--more--><\/p>\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Crime:<\/strong> Among Republicans, 71% say immigrants in the U.S. are making crime worse, compared with just 34% of Democrats, according to the newly released survey. Meanwhile, Republicans are just half as likely as Democrats (24% vs.\u00a055%) to say immigrants are <em>not<\/em> having much effect on crime.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Economy:<\/strong> There are similar partisan differences in opinions about the impact immigrants are having on the economy \u2013 71% of Republicans say immigrants are making the economy worse, compared with 34% of Democrats who say the same. Looked at another way, Republicans are far <em>less<\/em> likely than Democrats (12% vs.\u00a038%) to say immigrants are making the economy better. (A sizable share of Democrats, 24%, say immigrants are not having much of an effect on the economy.)<\/li>\n<li><strong>Becoming part of society: <\/strong>The view that immigrants generally don\u2019t want to assimilate is particularly widespread among Republicans; 81% say immigrants in our country today generally want to hold on to the customs and way of life of their home country, compared with 66% of independents and 55% of Democrats who say the same. Some three-quarters of Republicans (74%) say immigrants do not learn English in a reasonable amount of time, compared with 45% of Democrats.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Views of immigrants by region of origin: <\/strong>Americans on both sides of the partisan line have mostly positive or neutral views of Asian and European immigrants. But when it comes to those from Latin America, 58% of Republicans say these immigrants have had a mostly negative impact on society, compared with 23% of Democrats. There is a similar divide on views of Middle Eastern immigrants, with Republicans more than twice as likely as Democrats to view them negatively.<\/li>\n<li><strong>\n<figure><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2015\/09\/30\/on-views-of-immigrants-americans-largely-split-along-party-lines\/ft_15-09-28_immigrationparty_310px\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-273913\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-273913\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.pewresearch.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/12\/2015\/09\/FT_15.09.28_immigrationParty_310px.png\" alt=\"Majority of Republicans Say Immigration Should Be Decreased\" width=\"310\" height=\"339\"><\/a><\/figure>\n<p>How much immigration:<\/p><\/strong> Views also differ along partisan lines on how many immigrants should be allowed to enter the U.S. Two-thirds (67%) of Republicans say immigration to the U.S. should be decreased, compared with one-third (33%) of Democrats. Among Republicans, just 7% say immigration should be increased, compared with 20% of Democrats. Democrats are much more likely than Republicans (43% vs. 25%) to say immigration should be kept at present levels. Overall, about half of Americans (49%) say immigration should be decreased. (A <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2015\/06\/04\/broad-public-support-for-legal-status-for-undocumented-immigrants\/\">Pew Research survey<\/a> conducted in May found 31% of Americans said that <em>legal<\/em> immigration should be decreased, though partisan differences remained similar to our March-April poll.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite these divides, Republicans and Democrats <em>do <\/em>agree on this point: The U.S. immigration system is broken. Strong majorities of Republicans (89%) and Democrats (79%) say the immigration system needs major changes or needs to be completely rebuilt. Just 10% of Republicans and 20% of Democrats say the system works well and only needs minor changes.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>About half of Republicans (53%) say immigrants coming to the U.S. make society worse in the long run, compared with just 24% of Democrats who say the 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