National Polls By Year

2007

A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll conducted from October 12 -14, 2007 of 1,212 adults found that:

76% oppose granting drivers’ licenses to illegal aliens.
69% favor deceasing illegal immigration.
55% believe that police should arrest illegal immigrants and turn them over to the federal government, regardless if they have broken any state or local laws.

A Rasmussen Report poll conducted from August 15-16th of 800 likely voters found that:

79% “favor a proposal requiring employers to fire workers who use false identity documents.”
71% support “the creation of a uniform identification card for all foreign workers and students in the United States.”
58% favor cutting off federal funding to ‘sanctuary cities’ that house illegal immigrants.
56% agree with the continued building of a border fence.

A Rasmussen poll conducted from August 9-10, 2007 of 1,000 adults found that:

79% agree that workers with false identification documents should be fired by their employers
74%“agree that if a person wants to rent an apartment, should they be required to show documents proving they are legally in the U.S.”
71% think that the government is not doing enough in the arena of immigration.
68% “believe it is Very Important to improve border enforcement and reduce illegal immigration.”

A Rassmussen Reports Poll taken from June 11-12, 2007 of 800 likely voters found that:

69% support an immigration bill that focuses exclusively on reducing illegal immigration and enforcing the borders.
57% would not support a strategy that focuses exclusively on legalizing the status of undocumented workers.
51%agree with theSenate taking small steps forward instead them trying to pass the same immigration bill again.

An Opinion Dynamics/Fox New poll of 900 registered voters taken from June 5-6, 2007 found that:

58% believe that enforcing current immigration laws is the way to solve the immigration crisis versus 34% that believe the system needs a total overall.
55% support raids on businesses that employ illegal immigrants resulting in immediate detention of illegal immigrants found.

A New York Times/CBS poll conducted from May 18-23, 2007 of 1,125 adults found that:

82% believe that the U.S could be doing more to keep illegal immigrants from crossing the border.
81% feel that illegal immigration is either a very serious (61%) or somewhat serious (30%) issue.
75% think that most of the people who have moved to United States in the last few years are here illegally.
75% agree with imposing hirer fines on employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.
70% believe that illegal immigrants do more to weaken the economy because they don’t pay taxes and use public services.
69% feel that illegal immigrants should be prosecuted for being in the U.S. illegally.
60% disapprove of President Bush’s handling of the immigration issue.
45% (a plurality) believe that a guest worker program would eventually increase the illegal immigration population in the United States because workers would over-stay their visas.
35% (a plurality) think that in the long run immigration will make society worse.

A USA Today/Gallup Poll of 1,007 adults conducted from June 1-3, 2007 found that:

11% favor the proposed Senate immigration bill, while 30% oppose it, and 58% don’t know enough to say either way.

Of those who opposed the proposed Senate immigration bill 39% dislike the proposal because it grants amnesty/rewards to illegal immigrants, 17% want stiffer penalties for illegal immigrants, 15% don’t believe the bill will solve the problem, 11% think that immigrants cost taxpayers too much in health, welfare and school services and 10% believe we already have enough people in the United States.

A Washington Post-ABC survey of 1,205 adults taken from May 29th- June 1, 2007 found that:

64% disapprove of President Bush’s handling of the immigration crisis.
55% believe that illegal immigrants do more to harm the county than to help the country.

When asked, “Would you support or oppose a program giving ILLEGAL immigrants now living in the United States the right to live here LEGALLY if they pay a fine and meet other requirements?” 55% agreed, 44 disagreed, and 4% had no opinion.

When asked, “Would you support or oppose significantly expanding the guest worker program that allows people from other countries to work in the U.S. on a temporary basis, “ 53% supported, 43% opposed and 4% had no opinion.

A Rasmussen Report survey of 800 likely voters taken from May 21-22, 2007 found that:

88% find it very important (72%) or somewhat important (16%) to improve border enforcement and reduce illegal immigration.
26% support the Senate immigration reform poposal.

A Rasmussen Report survey of 1000 adults taken from May 8-9, 2007 found that:

62% support the addition of 6,000 border patrol agents.
56% agree with an enforcement-only approach to immigration reform.

CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll conducted from May 4-6, 2007 of 1,028 adults found that:

53% agree with building a 700 mile long fence on the border with Mexico
50% oppose the creation of a temporary worker program that would allow foreign citizens to enter the U.S for several months.

A Rasmussen Report survey of 1000 adults taken from April 30-May 1st, 2007 found that:

56% oppose granting citizenship to the child of an illegal alien born in the United States
55% disagree with granting citizenship to parents of children born in the United States

A McLaughlin & Associates poll conducted from April 12-15, 2007 of 1000 likely voters found that:

82% (82% of Latinos) support requiring voters to show valid identification to prevent fraud.
78% (73% of Latinos) agree with a tamper-proof identification card system to establish which applicants are legal immigrants.
77% (67% of Latinos) think that repealing local sanctuary laws allowing illegal immigrants to avoid punishment is a good idea.
75% (59% of Latinos) want to prohibit the issuing of drivers’ licenses to illegal immigrants by the state.
73% (53% of Latinos) support altering citizenship laws so that a child born in the United States does not automatically become a citizen, but must have a parent who is a citizen in order to do so.
72% (67% of Latinos) endorse tamper-proof identification cards with a national database.
71% (57% of Latinos) agree with passing new state laws to stop the use of taxpayer services for illegal immigrants.
68% (56% of Latinos) would like to enact a policy of zero tolerance where all illegal immigrants are deported.
63% (50% of Latinos) believe that illegal immigration is problem in the United States.
59% (69% of Latinos) support a guest worker program.
51% do not agree that measures that President Bush and Congress approved in 2006 will decreases illegal immigration.

When asked which immigration issues that are most concerning, 35% (31% of Latinos) believe that securing the borders so terrorist can’t enter is most important, while 25% (15% of Latinos) believe illegal immigrants receiving taxpayer services is most worrying and 15% (27% of Latinos) think that the crimes that illegal immigrants commit are most troubling. In addition 9% (11% of Latinos) think that illegal immigrants are a burden on public schools is most distressing and 6% (9% of Latinos) find that illegal immigrants taking American jobs is the most important immigration issue.

When asked what is the best way to stop illegal immigration, 23% (20% of Latinos) believe that stopping employers from hiring illegal immigrants would be most effective, while 18% (10% of Latinos) think passing tougher zero tolerance laws is the answer, 17% (30% of Latinos) believe that offering temporary visas is the best solution, 17% (15% of Latinos) support ending taxpayer benefits, 11% (11% of Latinos) agree with increasing federal funding of border security and 7% (6% of Latinos) support building a fence.

When asked what is the best way to secure the US-Mexican Border, 36% (33% of Latinos) believe that preventing illegal aliens from being hired in the United States is the solution, while 15% (17% of Latinos) agree with increasing surveillance technologies, 15% (14% of Latinos) support increasing the number of law enforcement officials, 13% (10% of Latinos) think that building a fence would be most effective, and 11% (9% of Latinos) agree with using the military.

A Zogby International and Judicial Watch poll conducted from March 22-26, 2007 of 1,039 likely voters and found that:

79% agree that taxpayer money should not be used to fund day labor sites.
72% believe that local law enforcement officials should assist the enforcement of federal immigration laws.
66% favor the use of additional law enforcement to stop illegal immigration (a majority of Hispanics also support this position).

A Susquehanna Polling and Research poll taken February 22-26, 2007 of 1000 respondents found that:

68% support the Hazelton ordinances that make English the official language, fine landlords for renting to illegal immigrants, and suspend the licenses of businesses that hire illegal aliens.
67% would like ordinances similar to those foundin Hazelton to be adopted in their communities.
61% do not believe that federal measures such as increased border patrol, raids on businesses and other efforts have helped to decrease illegal immigration.

When given a choice of four measures to decrease illegal immigration, 40 percent of respondents wanted to impose fines on business who knowingly hire illegal immigrates, 15 percent wanted increased border patrol, 14 percent agreed with enforcing current immigration laws, and 8 percent chose a fence between the United States and Mexico.

The poll proved broad-based majority support of decreased illeagal immigrants in the country among those who identified themselves as, “Republicans (80 percent), Democrats (56 percent), Independents (68 percent), both males and females (68 percent), voters in all age groups and in all geographic regions of the country including states in the Northeast (60 percent), South (74 percent), Midwest (73 percent), North Central (71 percent), Southwest (71 percent) and the West (60 percent).

2006

A Qunnipiac University poll taken November 13-19, 2006 of 1600 registed voters found that:

71% agree that in addition to a 700-mile border fence, extra measures should taken to prevent illegal immigrants from entering the country.
63% agree with fining businesses for employing illegal immigrants.

A Polling Company poll taken from September 18-24, 2006 of 1000 likely voters found that:

79% believe (62% strongly) that granting illegal immigrants citizenship will cause a greater influx of undocumented workers in the future.
76% say that insufficient efforts to enforce current laws are to blame for the illegal immigration crisis.
75% have followed the issue of immigration either “very” (31%) or “somewhat” (44%) closely.
75% believe that the reason we have so many illegal immigrants in the country is because immigration efforts have been “largely inadequate”.
73% believe that enforcement efforts are lacking by the government and that “too little” has been done.
71% respond (45% strongly) that the way to fill undesirable jobs is provide higher wages and better treatment for American workers, not by the “importation” of immigrants.
70% would be less likely (48% much less likely) to vote for a candidate who supports doubling immigration.
68% feel that the number of immigrants who cross the border, whether legal or illegal is “too high”.
67% support the House of Representative bill that calls for greater across-the-board enforcement of immigration laws, while only 34% support the Senate Bill which would grant citizenship to most of the illegal immigrants currently in the country.
66% feel (40% strongly) that immigration has a potential to cause a negative impact on the American way of life with increased congestion, overcrowding and pollution.
64% believe that reducing the number of immigrants that come into the United States is essential when faced with a population explosion of 100 million people in the next 50 years.
62% say that the media’s coverage of immigration is largely human interest and ignores or omits the downs-sides to illegal immigration.
59% believe that current immigration numbers should be lowered to allow immigrants that are currently in the country to assimilate.
53% say that immigration is one of their top three issues, with 9% saying it is their most important issue and only 8% who believe it isn’t an important issue.
44% believe that the best way to solve immigration is enforcement, compared to 31% who think the answer is allowing illegal immigrants to stay in the country, and 20% who believe mass deportation is the answer.

A Zogby American poll taken April 17-24, 2006 (of 1000 adults) found that:

67% think that that immigration should be reduced to allow immigrants in the country to assimilate.
66% think that immigration (both legal and illegal) is too high.
69% think that the House bill which tries to make illegal immigrants go home, reduce future illegal immigrants and allow for no increase in legal immigration is a ‘good’ or ‘very good’ idea.
74% think that there are ample numbers of Americans to occupy the jobs currently held by illegal immigrants if workers are treated well, and are paid higher wages.
73% have ‘little’ or ‘no’ confidence in the government to weed out terrorists or criminals if an amnesty program is instituted.
70% think that past government efforts to enforce immigrations laws have been ‘grossly inadequate’.

A USA Today/Gallup Poll taken April 7-9, 2006 (of 1004 adults) found that:

81% think that illegal immigration is out of control in the United States.

A Fox News/Opinion Dynamics Poll taken April 4-5, 2006 (900 registered voters) found that:

90% think that illegal immigration is a "very serious" or "somewhat serious" problem in the U.S. today.
87% are concerned that illegal immigration will overburden government programs and services.
81% think it's 'unfair' to grant rights to illegal immigrants while thousands wait to come to the U.S. legally.
75% are concerned that illegal immigration will lead to an increase in crime.
73% favor "imposing fines and criminal charges against employers who hire illegal immigrants."
66% are concerned that illegal immigration will lead to an increase in terrorism.
66% are concerned that illegal immigration will take jobs away from U.S. citizens.
65% think illegal immigrants cost more to the U.S. than any benefit they might add to the U.S.
57% favor "trying to send as many illegal immigrants back to their home countries as possible."
57% believe that illegal immigrants have a greater alliance to their home countries than to the U.S.
54% are concerned that illegal immigration will change the culture of America.
49% think that babies born to illegal immigrants should not automatically become a U.S. citizen.

A Zogby Poll taken March 31- April 3, 2006 (of 7967 respondents) found that:

61% stated that they are less sympathetic toward illegal immigrants after their protests.

A Time Magazine Poll taken March 29-30, 2006 (of 1004 adults) found that:

89% think that illegal immigration is "extremely", "very" or "somewhat" of a problem.
82% think that not enough is being done along the borders to keep illegal immigrants from crossing into the country.
69% oppose giving illegal immigrants the ability to obtain a driver's license.
49% say that the protests won't change their opinion on illegal immigration, while 35% think the protests will make them more likely to think illegal immigration is a crime.

A NBC News/Wall Street Journal Poll taken March 10-13, 2006 (of 500 adults) found that:

59% either "strongly oppose" or "somewhat oppose" a guest worker program.

An IQ Research & Consulting poll March, 2006 (sample 1,001 adults) asked:

“Where would you rank the importance of securing US borders as an issue for the President and Congress to address?” Responses were: Important - 92% (“Very important” 61%, “Somewhat important” 31%).
“Please rate whether you are favorable or unfavorable toward…Amnesty for illegal immigrants.” Responses were: Favorable 32% (“Very favorable” 8%, “Somewhat favorable” 24%) Unfavorable 60% (“Very unfavorable” 35%, “Somewhat unfavorable” 25%).

A Quinnipiac University Poll taken February 21-28, 2006 (of 1892 adults) found that:

88% think illegal immigration is "very serious" or "somewhat serious" of a problem.
72% oppose allowing illegal immigrants the ability to obtain a driver's license.
62% oppose making it easier for illegal immigrants to become citizens.

A Time Magazine national poll taken January 24-26, 2006 (of 1,002 adults) found that:

74% said the US is "not doing enough to keep illegal immigrants from crossing over into the US.” Those saying the US is "doing enough" were 14% of respondents; 7% replied "too much."
74% said they "favor providing major penalties for employers convicted of hiring illegal immigrants and strongly enforcing it"; 22% said "oppose", and 3% don't know.
50% said they "favor deporting all illegal immigrants back to their own country"; 45% said "oppose"; 4% don't know.
Asked whether they would favor "allowing illegal immigrants already working in the United States to register as guest workers for a fixed period of time, so that the government could keep track of them," 73% said they "favor"; 23% said "oppose"; 3% don't know.
83% are concerned that providing social services for illegal immigrants costs taxpayers too much.
71% are concerned that illegal immigrants increase crime.
56% think illegal immigrants are taking jobs that citizens don't want.

2005

Washington Post-ABC News Poll, released Dec. 19, 2005, of a national sample of 1,003 adults found that:

“Do you think the United States is or is not doing enough to keep illegal immigrants from coming into this country?, 79% responded “not enough” (59% “strongly”).
“Do you think illegal immigrants who are living and working in the United States now should be offered a chance to keep their jobs and eventually apply for legal status…or…deported back to their native country?, 38% chose “deported” and 61% chose “offered a chance.”
Asked, “Overall, do you think illegal immigrants do more to help the country, or do more to hurt the country?, 56% replied “hurt” and 37% replied “”help.”

December 2005 CNN/Gallup/USA Today poll 5%age point margin of error found that:

A majority of Americans believe that both legal and illegal immigrants hurt the economy. By almost 2 to 1 (60%-32%) respondents viewed illegal immigrants as hurting the economy by “…driving down wages for many Americans.” The margin was smaller among those who felt the same way about legal immigrants (52%-42%).

A CBS poll of 808 adults interviewed in early October 2005 and released October 24 found that:

75% say the U.S. is not doing enough along the borders to keep out illegal immigrants.
65% say the minutemen should be allowed to patrol U.S. borders.
11% say legal immigration should be increased; 81% disagree. (Comment: The share of the U.S. population that is foreign-born is now approaching 12%.)

A Rasmussen Reports survey in September, 2005 found that:

54% of Americans have a favorable view of the Minutemen volunteers who patrolled portions of the Mexican border this year.
48% of Americans believe the federal government should encourage volunteers to patrol the entire Mexican border while 33% disagree.
52% agree that if citizen patrols were encouraged across the entire Mexican border, illegal immigration would be reduced.
38% say immigration will be "very important" in deciding their vote in the next presidential election.
31% say immigration will be "somewhat important" in deciding their vote in the next presidential election
73% of Republicans rank the issue as somewhat or very important along with 64% of Democrats.
Republicans, by a 59% to 29% margin, say that the federal government should encourage citizen patrols along the entire border.
A plurality 49% of Americans answered “No” when asked, “If an illegal alien gives birth to a child in the United States, should that child be entitled to United States citizenship/” On this ‘anchor baby/birthright citizenship question, 41% said “yes.”

A Zogby poll reported by WorldNetDaily.com on May 6, 2005 found that:

A huge majority (81% of respondents) believe local and state police should help federal authorities enforce laws against illegal immigration. 14% disagreed.
A majority (56%) opposed the Bush plan, and 35% supported it when asked, "Do you support or oppose the Bush administration’s proposal to give millions of illegal aliens guest worker status and the opportunity to become citizens?"
A majority (53%) agreed and 40% disagreed when asked, "Do you agree or disagree that the federal government should deploy troops on the Mexican border as a temporary measure to control illegal immigration?"

In releasing the poll results, the Zogby organization highlighted the fact that the poll revealed that higher levels of concern about illegal immigration were found among Democrats, blacks, women and people with lower incomes, who have the most to lose in the job market.

More Than Three-Quarters of Americans Want Stricter Immigration Controls. (November 2003, by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press)
77% of Americans say “we should restrict and control people coming into the country to live more than we do now,” including 82% of Republicans and 76% of both Democrats and Independents.
full poll: Click for results
47% of Americans Want Immigration Decreased; Only 13% Want It Increased. (June 2003, by Gallup)

2004

CBS/New York Times (January 2004)

Asked if illegal immigrants should be able to apply for three-year work permits, which would allow them to live and work legally in the U.S., 65% of Americans said they should not be allowed.

Americans Concerned About Immigration & National Security(Feb. 2003, by Hamilton College and Zogby Intl.)

63% of Americans would support a policy that stops all immigration from countries suspected of harboring terrorists.

ASW for Negative Population Growth(March 2003, by Roper)

85% Think Illegal Immigration Is a Serious Problem. (When asked what the “desirable” level of immigration would be, 76% gave an answer that was below the current level of one million a year. 85% agreed that illegal immigration is a “serious” problem, and 55% think it is a “very serious” problem. Overall, 68% agreed that completely halting illegal immigration is a worthy goal.

2002

Harris Interactive for Chicago Council on Foreign Relations (June 2002)

85% of the public said that protecting the jobs of U.S. workers should be a “very important” foreign policy goal.
Sixty% think immigration is a critical threat to U.S. interests.
57% want to see legal immigration decreased. Two-Thirds of Americans Oppose Amnesty 65% of Americans disagreed with granting amnesty to illegal aliens
68% of agreed that the U.S. should deploy military troops on the border to help curb illegal immigration,
58% think the U.S should admit fewer immigrants each year.

Americans for Immigration Control by Zogby Intl. (May 2002)

Two-Thirds of Americans Oppose Amnesty
65% of Americans disagreed with granting amnesty to illegal aliens,
68% of agreed that the U.S. should deploy military troops on the border to help curb illegal immigration
58% think the U.S should admit fewer immigrants each year.

2001

USA Today/CNN/Gallup (Oct. 2001)

58% said that immigration should be decreased
30% thought it should be kept at the present level
Only eight% wanted it increased.

Zogby Intl. for the Center for Immigration Studies (September 2001)

77% of Americans said not enough is being done to control the border and screen people allowed into the country.
85% said that enforcement of immigration laws has been too lax and that this made it easier for terrorists to enter the country.
72% agreed that increasing the resources devoted to border control and enforcement of immigration laws would reduce the chances of future terrorist attacks.

Harris Interactive for FAIR (August 2001)

65% of respondents said illegal immigration is a net drain on taxpayer-funded public services.
54% thought that illegal immigration was a serious problem that the government was not doing an adequate job of stopping.
65% agreed that granting amnesty to illegal immigrants would encourage more illegal immigration, and that therefore amnesty should not be granted.

Page Tools