More than half of Americans now want immigration to decrease, the most in over two decades

The amount of Americans who want current immigration levels to decrease has seen a dramatic spike over the past month, reaching its highest point in over two decades.

Concretely, the figure climbed 14 percentage points between May and June, going from 41% to 55%, according to figures from a new Gallup poll. Consequently, those who want it to stay at current levels and to decrease saw sharp drops, from 31% to 25% and 26% to 16%, respectively.

The last time over half of Americans wanted less immigration was in December 2005 (51%) and the last time the figure was higher than now was in October 2001, right after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The record was 65% in June 1995.

The spike comes despite the Biden administration's recent crackdown on unlawful immigration at the southern border, which has led to a significant decrease in crossings over the past month. Gallup highlighted that, despite the drop, current figures "remain above most monthly pre-pandemic totals."

The issue has stayed at the top of the political conversation, with former President and presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump leading Republicans' charge against the incumbent, Joe Biden, over what they claim is a vastly insufficient approach to stemming the flow of migrants reaching the country.

The pollster also recalled that, in its latest survey, 42% of respondents described "the situation at the U.S. border with Mexico as a crisis and 35% a major problem," although it clarified that "those figures are little changed from prior readings in 2019 and 2023."

Looking at party affiliation, the poll shows the characteristic contrast between Democrats, Republicans and Independents, but it also reflect that many across all groups are more to favor less immigrants than a year ago.

"This includes a 15-point increase among Republicans (to 88%), an 11-point increase among independents (to 50%) and a 10-point increase among Democrats (to 28%)," Gallup explains. "Democrats are now most likely to prefer keeping immigration levels where they are, but last year they were about equally likely to favor keeping the status quo or increasing immigration."

Regarding the policies favored to reduce immigration, two in three Americans support "hiring significantly more border patrol agents, while 63% say the president and the secretary of Homeland Security should be able to temporarily prevent people from seeking asylum when the border is overwhelmed.

Over half (53%) favor expanding the construction of walls along the border, the first time a majority has given such an answer. And 47% back deporting all immigrants who are living in the U.S., over 10 million people according to the latest estimates, back to their home countries.

In contrast, support for allowing unlawful immigrants to become citizens has dropped from 81% five years ago to 70% at the moment, illustrating the overall stricter shift in Americans' views on the issue of immigration altogether.