Poll: 79 percent of Americans support immigrants

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A new Gallup poll released Friday found a big swing in Americans’ opinions about immigrants in 2025. Gallup wrote, “Americans have grown markedly more positive toward immigration over the past year, with the share wanting immigration reduced dropping from 55% in 2024 to 30% today. At the same time, a record-high 79% of U.S. adults say immigration is a good thing for the country.”

A record-low, 17 percent, view immigration as a “bad thing,” the poll found.

Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) said Friday, “The numbers don’t lie: the majority of Americans agree that immigration is overwhelmingly good for our country and our economy. As the nation watches Donald Trump and Stephen Miller’s cruel policies separate families and sow fear in our communities — in our parks, our restaurants, our hospitals — they’ve become deeply unpopular, sparking a fierce backlash from the public.”

One of the poll’s questions asked: Do you strongly approve, approve, disapprove, or strongly disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling the immigration issue?

Answers were sharply partisan: 85% of Republicans approve of Trump’s immigration policies, compared with 28% of independents and just 2% of Democrats.

The poll’s findings were based on a June 2-26 Gallup poll of 1,402 adults in the United States. Gallup pollsters said the results mark a reverse in a four-year trend, when concerns about immigration began rising in 2021.

Gallup wrote, “Support for allowing undocumented immigrants to become U.S. citizens has risen to 78%, up from 70% last year.”

Padilla said, “We know our economy depends on the essential contributions of immigrants. California is the fourth-largest economy in the world not in spite of immigrants, but because of their contributions not only as a workforce, but as consumers and as entrepreneurs.”

Sen. Padilla, the son of immigrants from Mexico, has been a harsh critics of Trump’s deportation agenda. Last month, Padilla was forcefully removed from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s news conference in Los Angeles and handcuffed by officers as he tried to speak up about immigration raids. A Secret Service agent grabbed the California senator by his jacket and shoved him from the room.

On Friday Padilla said, “Now is the time to finally deliver a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, farm workers, and other long-term residents of our nation who have been living and working in the shadows for far too long.”

According to Gallup’s poll analysis, Americans’ feelings about immigrants swung more negative during President Joe Biden’s term in office. Trump’s policies, which include mass deportations of undocumented immigrants and tougher border control, apparently eased concerns.

“The surge in illegal border crossings during the Biden administration triggered heightened public concern about immigration and increased demand for stricter enforcement. The Trump administration’s swift and visible response appears to have defused that concern, particularly among Republicans,” Gallup wrote.