Three-fourths of Democrats say they’re “sympathetic” to illegal immigrants living in the U.S., results of a new national Gallup survey of U.S. adults reveals.
Fully 75% of Democrats say they’re at least “somewhat sympathetic” toward illegal immigrants residing in the United States – including 38% who are “very sympathetic.”
There’s less sympathy for illegal aliens among all American adults, taken as a whole. Here, 64% are at least somewhat sympathetic, including 23% who are very much so.
Democrats are also less likely to consider the flood of illegal aliens into the country across the border with Mexico a “crisis,” despite the ongoing threats posed by deadly drugs and human smugglers.
Just 17% of Democrats believe there’s currently a crisis at the southwest border – a 20 percentage point drop from 2019.
However, 39% of all U.S. adults say there’s a crisis, due to a 13-point jump to 65% among Republicans and a seven-point increase to 39% for Independents. Older Americans are particularly concerned about what’s taking place at the border, as 51% deem it a full-blown crisis.
Nearly three of four (72%) of all adults believe it’s at least a major problem. About one in five (22%) consider it a “minor problem.”
A mere five percent (one in 20) of all U.S. adults think the border situation is “not a problem.”
On Friday, Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that, since 2021, Texas border agents have seized over 422 million lethal doses of fentanyl – more than enough to kill every one of the approximately 366 million people currently living in the U.S.
Over that time, Texas has have made 394,200 illegal-immigrant apprehensions and arrested 31,300 criminals, the governor said.
“All because Biden is not doing his job,” Gov. Abbott tweeted.
Indeed, last week, President Biden’s Justice Department threatened to sue Gov. Abbott, if he doesn’t order the removal of floating buoy barriers designed to help stop illegal immigration across the Rio Grande River into his state.
The floating barriers are also intended to protect illegal immigrants by discouraging them from attempting the treacherous, and potentially deadly, river-crossing.
“Mr. President, Texas will see you in court,” Gov. Abbott tweeted Monday, releasing a statement and letter responding to Biden’s threat.
“If you truly care about human life, you must begin enforcing federal immigration law,” Abbott says in the letter to Biden:
“By doing so, you can help me stop migrants from wagering their lives in the waters of the Rio Grande River. You can also help me save Texans, and indeed all Americans, from deadly drugs like fentanyl, cartel violence, and the horrors of human trafficking.”
Read full Gallup report recapping its national survey of 1,013 U.S. adults (18+), conducted June 1-22, 2023.