How Immigration has Climbed in Americans' Ranking of the Largest Global Risks

The amount of Americans who believe the large number of immigrants entering the U.S. illegally is a threat to the country's interests has grown rapidly over the past year, in accordance with its increasingly central place in the national conversation.

A Gallup poll published on Thursday showed that 55% of all respondents said the issue is a "critical threat," while a further 31% called it "important, but not critical." The remaining 14% said it is not an important issue.

The question did not rank at the top of all subjects listed -cyberterrorism and the development of nuclear weapons by Iran and North Korea, among others, placed above it- but the study did highlight the fact that its importance for Americans has increased significantly over the past year. The figure has climbed eight percentage points during this period, reaching a record-high.

However, the survey showed it hasn't escalated dramatically since the poll started in 2004. Back then, half of respondents called immigration a critical issue, showing how it has climbed and decreased based on circumstantial factors. Others did climb drastically over these two decades, with Russia's military power (18% to 50%) and the potential of a China-Taiwan conflict (23% to 50%) recording the largest increases.

As it's been clear through many studies and officials' rhetoric, there is a large partisan divide regarding the perceived danger posed by immigration. While many agree on the danger of cyberterrorism and North Korea's nuclear program, it is not the case with this other issue.

90% of Republican respondents called it a critical threat, the second-largest amount for any issue, only behind the development of nuclear weapons by Iran (90%). In contrast, 29% of Democrats said immigration is a critical threat (the lowest for any topic) a figure that climbed to 54% for Independents.

Democrats are much more concerned with global warming or climate change, with 82% calling it a critical threat. Most Republicans, in turn, disagree: only 19% said it was the case, the lowest amount for any issue. It's particularly illustrative of the partisan divide in the U.S., as the issues that concern a party the most are the least worrying for the other.

But even if most Democrats don't consider immigration a critical threat, a large majority do consider it a problem that needs to be dealt with. A recent Monmouth University Poll showed that more than 8 in 10 Americans said it was very serious (61%) or somewhat serious (23%) problem.

All groups of respondents posted a surge compared to 2015 and 2019. "This rise is most notable among Republicans, from 66% very serious in 2015 to 77% in 2019 and 91% in the current poll. Among independents, 58% say this is a very serious problem, up from just over 4 in 10 who said the same in both 2015 (42%) and 2019 (43%). A similar level of concern among Democrats now stands at 41%, after dipping from 33% in 2015 to 26% in 2019," the report explained.

Asked about where immigrants seeking political asylum should stay, over 60% said Mexico, compared to 35% who expressed support for them to stay in the U.S. while they wait. "Support for keeping asylum-seekers on the other side of the border as their claims are processed has increased among all partisan groups compared with 2019," Monmouth's results showed.