Immigration Concerns Keep Climbing; Over One in Four in the U.S. Say It's the Most Important Problem

Immigration continues to dominate the national conversation in the U.S., and it shows in the data. According to a new Gallup poll published on Tuesday, an increasingly growing number of Americans consider it to be the most important problem facing the country, above the government and the economy.

Overall, 28% of respondents said that was the case in February, an increase of eight percentage points compared to the previous month. It has surpassed the government (20%) and the combination of the "economy in general" (12%) and inflation (11%), over this time period.

Gallup noted that it is the first time in about five years that immigration ranks above all other issues included in the poll. The last time was in 2019, "when there was a surge of attempted border crossings by Central American migrants."

"Immigration also ranked as the No. 1 problem in July and November 2018 and July 2014. The 28% currently naming immigration as the most important problem essentially ties the 27% reading from July 2019 as the highest in Gallup's trend," the pollster added.

The survey highlighted that Republicans are mostly responsible for the surge, as the percentage of those saying immigration was their top concern climbed from 37% to 57% in February.

"Independents show a modest uptick, from 16% in January to 22% now, while there has been no meaningful change among Democrats (9% in January and 10% in February)," the poll showed. In terms of geographical location, residents of the Eastern and Southern parts of the country (36% and 31%, respectively), were more likely to say immigration was the top concern, compared to 25% in the Midwest and 22% in the West.

In another passage of the survey, Gallup asked specifically about illegal immigrants. A record-high 55% answered that "large number of immigrants entering the United States illegally" is a critical threat to the country's vital interest, up eight percentage points compared to last year and above the previous record, 50%. 31% said it was an important issue and the remaining 14% said it was not important, tying 2004's historic low.

Party affiliation was once again key in respondents' answers, as 90% of Republicans believed illegal immigration was a critical threat, compared to 29% of Democrats and 54% of independents. Nonetheless, it's worth mentioning that all groups saw a higher number of people answering this way: for Republicans it increased by 6 percentage points, it was 14 for independents and 9 for Democrats compared to a year ago.

The issue can pose an electoral risk for President Joe Biden heading into November's elections, as a vast majority of people in the U.S. believe his administration is not doing a good job addressing it, according to a new poll by the Pew Research Center.

34% of respondents saying it's doing a "somewhat bad" job and 45% saying it's doing a "very bad" job. When delving into party affiliation, almost 90% of Republicans and 73% of Democrats considered this to be the case.

Same as in the previous category, most Republicans were inclined to give the strongest answer, with 71% saying the Biden administration's job is "very bad." Democrats took the less critical stance, with 23% saying it's doing a "very bad" job and 49% saying it's "somewhat bad."

Aware of the issue, the Biden administration has gone on offense, blaming Republicans of tanking a border security deal that would have allocated $15 billion to the issue and saying they did so for political purposes, as former President Donald Trump considers it a winning campaign issue.

The government is weighing taking unilateral measures to address the issue: After NBC News reported last week that the government is weighing making it harder to qualify for asylum and easier to quickly deport people who don't meet the criteria, CBS News indicated that it is contemplating a tougher measure: a sweeping presidential authority that allows him to "suspend the entry" of foreigners when it is determined that their arrival is not in the best interest of the country. Moreover, Axios said that the order would give the administration the ability to turn asylum seekers away if they cross illegally.

The next related political event will take place on Thursday, as both Biden and Trump are set to visit different spots on the Texas-Mexico border.

President Biden will hold meetings with law enforcement officials in Brownsville, neighboring the Mexican city of Matamoros (state of Tamaulipas). Meanwhile, former President Trump will visit Eagle Pass, a neighbor of Piedras Negras (Coahuila).