Poll: Increasing Number of Massachusetts Residents Say ‘Immigration’ and ‘Migrants’ Top Issue

 An increasing number of Massachusetts residents have indicated that “migrants/immigration” is the most important issue for state leaders to address.

A CommonWealth/GBH News poll conducted between March 21 and 29 by the MassINC Polling Group, surveyed 1,002 Massachusetts residents about which issues they felt were the most pressing in their state.

The poll had a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points.

Out of all the issues mentioned in the poll, 21 percent of people said “migrants/immigration” was the top issue state government was facing, while 15 percent of respondents said they felt housing was the most important issue state leaders should address.

Twelve percent of those surveyed said they felt “taxes/government spending/welfare” was the most important issue for state government leaders to address, while another twelve percent said the state government should focus on inflation and the cost of living.

Eight percent expressed that the government should address the issues facing politics such as corruption, transparency, and incompetence, while another eight percent said the issues plaguing the economy, such as jobs, poverty, and inequality were the most urgent.

Altogether, 67 percent of those polled considered “migrants/immigration” a problem. Twenty-eight percent called it a crisis, while 39 percent described it as a “major problem.”

In the early morning a migrant mother folds up a blanket next to three children who slept on the terminal floor overnight with their belongings scattered about on January 26. Migrants are being sheltered at Logan Airport’s Terminal E overnight. During the day, they are transported to welcoming centers, but they are sleeping on the floor and on benches in the airport overnight. (David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty)

Twenty percent of Massachusetts residents said they felt the migrant situation was a “minor problem,” while five percent said it wasn’t a problem, and seven percent either said they didn’t know or refused to answer.

In a poll conducted in August 2023 by the MassINC Polling Group, 23 percent of Massachusetts residents said housing was the most important issue the state was facing, 21 percent said the cost of living and inflation were the most important issues, and 12 percent said the economy and jobs were the most important issues. Immigration came in fourth, with 10 percent of respondents saying it was an important issue.

In 2022, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) began sending illegal aliens to Martha’s Vineyard, an island in Massachusetts that is home to former President Barack Obama’s vacation estate. This came as states such as Texas and Arizona had been sending buses of illegal migrants to cities like Washington, DC, and New York City.

Breitbart News has previously reported its calculations that the island could provide housing to around six million illegal aliens.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) responded by moving the migrants off the island and to a nearby military base.