Americans have become more concerned about immigration and violence over the past year as a result of the increased numbers of immigrants entering the country at the southwestern border and the Middle East’s hostility. People worry about that topic has decreased as a result of the prices rate dropping from 2023. Yet, more Americans also say they worry about prices than any of 13 additional issues rated in the fresh survey.
With its “most critical issue facing this state” question, Gallup finds a somewhat unique rank- order of concerns. For the second consecutive month, immigration leads Americans ‘ unprompted responses to the nation’s most pressing issues, with inflation even strongly appearing.
Six Problems Troubling to Majority of Americans
As part of its Environment surveys, Gallup asks Americans to charge their concern for a variety of regional issues in March. This year’s poll, conducted March 1- 20, asked responders about 14 different problems, most of which have been tracked constantly since 2001.
The percent of Americans who worry” a great deal” about prices are only slightly higher than those who worry about five different domestic issues that concern the majority of Americans. These include: criminal justice and violence ( 53 % ), hunger and homelessness ( 52 % ), the economy ( 52 % ), healthcare access and affordability ( 51 % ), and federal spending and the budget deficit ( 51 % ).
At least four in ten Americans are deeply concerned about illegal immigration ( 48 % ), drug use ( 44 % ), Social Security ( 43 % ), and the possibility of retaliation for terrorist attacks ( 43 % ), according to another four issues.
In addition, less than four in ten worry a lot about the availability and affordability of energy ( 37 % ) and the state of the environment ( 37 % ). Race relations ( 35 % ) and unemployment ( 33 % ) garner the least concern, with about a third highly worried about each.
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Immigration Is America’s Best Unsettled Issue
Gallup also conducts regular surveys of Americans ‘ opinions of regional concerns, asking them to name the most pressing issue facing the nation right now. This survey’s question format is used before the listing of matter concerns, and it produces a slightly different finish, finding emigration ranking ahead of inflation. Nevertheless, 28 % of Americans, the same as in February and the most for any concern, name immigration as the top concern. That basically brings the 27 % reading from July 2019 to its highest reading since Gallup began collecting mentions of multiculturalism in 1981.
Mentions of government and poor leadership, combined, rank second ( at 19 % ), while the economy in general is next with 14 %, followed by inflation at 11 %.
Despite being among the highest- rated concerns when asked about directly, poverty and homelessness ( 6 % ) and crime ( 3 % ) are further down the list in top- of- mind mentions.
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Immigration, Terrorism Concerns Rose Over Past Year, Prices, Economy Waned Somewhat
Americans grew less concerned about two economic issues over the past year: the economy in general ( down eight points ) and inflation, specifically ( down six points ).
Both declines most likely reflect the nearly halving of the inflation rate over the past two years, from 6 % just before the poll’s debut to 3.2 % before this year’s.
In the meantime, the government is becoming more concerned about two of the 14 issues raised by the ballot, including the possibility of future terrorist attacks in the United States.
The percentage worried a great deal about illegal immigration has increased seven percentage points, from 41 % in March 2023 to 48 % today. This mostly reflects a near doubling of concern among Democrats, from 14 % to 27 %. Concern has increased slightly among independents (up from 39 % to 44 % ), but it has maintained a high level among Republicans (up from 73 % to 80 % in 2023 ).
Although the record-breaking figures experienced in December have decreased, immigrant border crossings are still significantly higher than they were before 2021, with February’s bridges the highest ever recorded for that quarter.
Concern about upcoming terrorist attacks has also increased by seven points since last year, from 36 % to 43 %, with increases seen among all party groups. However, overall concern about the issue still does n’t match the higher levels of concern it garnered in 2015 ( 51 % ), 2016 ( 48 % ) and the early 2000s ( 49 % ).
Given the government’s growing concern about terrorism, FBI Director Christopher Wray’s new instructions to Congress about an increased risk of terrorist attacks in the United States may be to blame. In his testimony before Congress, he claimed that given the reaction against the United States ‘ position on the resulting issue, the risk of violence has increased tremendously since Hamas ‘ assault on Israel last year. Wray also reported that some immigrant smuggling network have connections to ISIS and other criminal companies, raising people worry about illegal immigration.
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Democrats are much more knowledgeable about troubles than Democrats.
Democratic party perceptions vary significantly depending on the type of issue one has, with Republicans being much more likely than Democrats to be concerned about the majority of the issues. The gap is particularly wide for federal spending and the deficit ( 49 points ), illegal immigration ( 46 points ), and inflation ( 37 points ).
Democrats are more concerned than Republicans about four of the 14 issues, by relatively modest margins: race relations ( with a 25- point gap ), the quality of the environment ( 20 points ), the availability and affordability of healthcare ( 17 points ), and hunger and homelessness ( nine points ).
The candidates may want to point out that the top issues that this group’s candidates face are hunger and homelessness ( 59 % ), inflation ( 55 % ), the availability and affordability of healthcare ( 53 % ), and crime and violence ( 52 % ), given the potential significance of political independents in deciding this year’s presidential election. Like Republicans, politicians are least concerned about competition connections, followed by the environment.
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On the unaided Most Important Problem question, fully half of Republicans ( 52 % ) cite immigration as the nation’s top problem, making it their primary unprompted concern.
Immigration also ranks as the top issue among independents, mentioned by 21 %, although this is closely matched by the government, at 19 %. Democrats are most likely to mention aspects of the United States leadership ( 28 % ), followed by immigration ( 22 % ), and Donald Trump ( 22 % ).
Bottom Series
As the presumed presidential contenders make their cases to citizens, Americans may be most interested in what they have to say about prices, crime, immigration, and the sector more widely. They may also be interested in finding out what the next president will do to keep essential components of the country’s safety net alive, with majorities concerned about hunger, poverty, and access to affordable healthcare.
Immigration’s position as the most important top-of-mind concern for Americans suggests that a significant portion of the electorate is exceedingly focused on this issue.
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