A new poll published Friday found that the percentage of people who consider illegal immigration a “very big problem” has risen by 20% since June of 2020.
The Pew Research Center poll that was conducted between April 5-11 found that 48% of American adults consider illegal immigration to be a very big problem. In comparison, 28% of adults said that same in June of 2020.
The poll surveyed 5,109 U.S. adults.
President Joe Biden has struggled to deal with a crisis at the border. An influx of migrants, especially unaccompanied migrant children, has lead to severe overcrowding in facilities at the border and forced the government to purchase hotel rooms for migrants or fly them to other parts of the country. (RELATED: Photos Show Kids Inside Pods At Biden Border Facility)
Vice President Kamala Harris, who was appointed by the president in late March to oversee the administration’s response to the border crisis, has been criticized by Republicans for not yet taking a trip to the border. She announced Wednesday that she would soon take a trip to Mexico and Guatemala.
The Pew poll also found that fewer than half of Americans still consider coronavirus to be a very big problem. In June of 2020, 58% of respondents said that coronavirus was a very big deal – in April of 2021, that percentage had fallen to 47%.
Our latest poll has an update to Americans’ views of the major problems facing the country:
Since Biden took office, Republicans have been come much more concerned about the deficit while Democrats have become much less concerned.https://t.co/386SUxh2SF pic.twitter.com/jZ7bV9yzVU
— Brad Jones (@B_radJ_ones) April 15, 2021
Concern about the affordability of health care and the federal budget deficit has remained relatively steady. 57% of Americans said that affordability of health care was a very big problem in June, and 56% said the same in April. The percentage of Americans concerned about the federal budget deficit being a very big problem was 47% in June and 49% in April.
Concern about the federal budget deficit has split along party lines; 71% of Republicans said that the budget deficit is a very big problem in April compared to 49% of Republicans saying the same in June. The percentage of Democrats who saw the budget deficit as a very big problem declined from 45% in June to 31% in April.