More than half (55%) of Americans consider the problem of illegal migration into the country a critical threat to the US, according to a Gallup poll.
In February 2022, only 47% of those polled said that large numbers of immigrants entering the United States illegally posed a critical threat to the nation’s interests. Previously, the record number agreeing with this thesis was 50% of those polled in 2004.
The polling comes just days after it was revealed that the suspect charged in connection with the murder of 22-year-old Georgia nursing student Laken Riley is an illegal immigrant originally from Venezuela.
The social survey also correlated loyalty to one of the two central political parties in the US with opinion on illegal migration. An overwhelming majority of Republicans already considered illegal immigration a critical threat. A year ago, 84% said so; in 2024, that figure has reached 90%.
Far fewer Democrats see illegal immigration as a critical threat to the US, but their share has also grown – from 20% in 2023 to 29% in February 2024.
At the end of January, CNN reported, citing sources, that the US Senate was going to introduce a bill to strengthen the powers of the executive branch to curb illegal migration. The Senate hoped that the new measures would help stop the influx of illegal migrants to the southern border of the country and tighten control over the US-Mexico border. Then in February, it was revealed that after four months of intense negotiations, the Senate was on the verge of abandoning the bipartisan deal.
On 4 February, the US Senate officially released this bipartisan bill, and on 8 February, members of the US Senate voted to pass it.
