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CV NEWS FEED // A rising number of Americans are regularly worried about immigration and terrorist attacks, according to data from Gallup.
The analytics giant conducted a survey in March and asked respondents to rank their levels of concern regarding a variety of topics.
Forty-eight percent of respondents said they worried about illegal immigration “a great deal,” while 18% worried about it “a fair amount.” A similar percentage worried about the possibility of terrorist attacks in the U.S., with 43% ranking it as a large concern and 23% worried about it only a fair amount.
Comparatively, inflation was ranked the top worry for most Americans, with 55% responding that they worry a great deal about it and 24% saying they worry a fair amount. Illegal immigration was ranked as the seventh most concerning issue, out of 14 total issues.
Other issues, like crime, homelessness, and the economy, were ranked slightly higher than immigration on the list. However, when respondents were later asked to name what they believed to be the most important issue facing the U.S., without a list of options to choose from, illegal immigration emerged as the most frequent answer.
“Overall, 28% of Americans, the same as in February and the most for any issue, name immigration as the top problem. That essentially ties the 27% reading from July 2019 as the highest since Gallup started compiling mentions of immigration in 1981,” Gallup reported.
Gallup additionally found that concerns about the economy and inflation have begun going down, but concerns about immigration and terrorism have steadily been going up in recent years.
“The percentage worried a great deal about illegal immigration has increased seven percentage points, from 41% in March 2023 to 48% today,” Gallup reported, adding:
This mostly reflects a near doubling of concern among Democrats, from 14% to 27%. Concern has edged slightly higher among independents (rising from 39% to 44%), while it has been steady at a high level among Republicans (74% in 2023 and 73% today).
Between 2023 and 2024, concerns about terrorist attacks increased from 36% to 43%, a finding that Gallup suggested could be attributed to FBI Director Christopher Wray’s recent statement on terrorism.
“In testimony before Congress, he said the risk of terrorism has increased significantly since Hamas’ attack on Israel last year, given the backlash against the United States’ position on the resulting conflict,” Gallup reported. “This intersects with public concern about illegal immigration, as Wray also reported that some migrant smuggling networks have ties to ISIS and other terrorist organizations.”
Gallup found that Republicans and Independents, 73% and 44%, respectively, were significantly more likely to be concerned about immigration compared with Democrats. Seventy-three percent of Republicans and 44% of Independents were worried about illegal immigration, compared to just 27% of Democrats.
