American Concern About Immigration Balloons

Concern about employment has dominated American’s worries over the last several quarters, according to Gallup.  Surprisingly, or perhaps not upon reflection of the events in Arizona, immigration has become a larger issue with many Americans in the last month

Gallup reports that “immigration” now tops the list of concerns, based on its May poll, among 10% of the population up from just 2% in April. The polling company says “Mentions of immigration last reached double digits in January 2008, and peaked at 19% in April 2006.”

The issue of immigration is most pronounced in western states where it is a significant problem. Unemployment and the illegal alien question are inextricably linked even if Gallup does not describe it that way.  The millions of illegal aliens who have entered the US over the last decade have long been seen as a dominant force in the low-end of the jobs market. As more Americans lose work and are out of jobs for extended periods, jobs that do not pay as well as their former employment become attractive. It is better to earn something than live on nothing at all. Jobless Americans are faced with the chance that Congress will not indefinitely extend unemployment benefits. And, nearly 3% of the workforce has been out of work for longer than 27 months.

The issue of immigration was center stage among the debate in the Republican primary in 2008 but then faded as an issue. Now that Arizona has passed a strict law that is viewed by many as a way to push illegal immigrants out of the state, the conversation about the fate of undocumented people has escalated. Other states on the southern border of the US have already begun to take up the issue and the fate of hundreds of thousands or perhaps millions of  people is in the balance. And, public opinion is turning in the direction of preferring employment over the presence of the huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

Douglas A. McIntyre