POLL: Americans are becoming increasingly pessimistic about the migrant crisis

 A poll conducted by the non-profit Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) recently found that Americans are getting frustrated with the never-ending deluge of migrants imported by the U.S. ruling class.

According to the survey, 57 percent of Americans believe that migrants have imposed undue burdens on their local communities. Similarly, 86 percent of Republican voters and 57 percent of independent voters held this view.

Forty-three percent of Americans think that these migrants have increased crime in their local communities. The said figure included 73 percent of Republican voters. Meanwhile, 35 percent of Americans expressed that immigrants "are invading our country and replacing our cultural and ethnic background." This item included 65 percent of Republicans.

Thirty-four percent of Americans indicated that immigrants illegally invading the U.S. are "poisoning the blood of our country," with 61 percent of Republicans, 30 percent of independents and just 13 percent of Democrats thinking that way.

Moreover, support for amnesty has nosedived since 2013. For Republicans, it went from 53 percent to 36 percent. For independents, support for amnesty fell from 64 percent to 55 percent in this period.

Six years ago, the administration of former President Donald Trump's "zero tolerance" policy at the southern border went into effect. Thousands of immigrant families were split up, with migrant children kept separately while their parents awaited prosecution.

More Americans want tougher immigration policies

Now, immigration still is one of the country's major problems. Various polls released at different periods of the year suggest that a significant share of American voters – not just Republicans – are warming up to the idea of tough-on-immigration policy proposals.  

As per the same PRRI survey, the support for constructing a border wall has increased from 41 percent in 2016 to 51 percent in the present year.

Trump has also stepped up his constant attacks on the Biden administration's "weak" immigration policy.

Pollsters and immigration researchers offer a few explanations that can be roughly sorted into three theories.

The first theory highlights the role of elected officials – specifically Republicans, and more specifically Trump. As Republicans left power and shifted into opposition mode, they’ve refocused attention on immigration as a threat to American identity.

The second theory notes that the economy – particularly inflation and the public's "scarcity mindset" – has made more Americans critical of immigration. When the public feels as though the economy is booming and there's plenty to go around, they feel more open to sharing that wealth. But when people perceive the economy to be tenuous, like after the pandemic when inflation took off, Americans feel more hesitant to share with outsiders.

The third theory argues that the anti-immigrant turn is being driven by concerns about the rule of law and social disorder. This theory posits that the post-pandemic surge in crime, combined with heightened media coverage of disorder in public, prompted greater concerns from Americans about security and quality of life – concerns that were then also applied to the border and people trying to cross it without documentation.

All told, restricting immigration is a popular policy across the board, regardless of a person's political party. It's really the elites who love mass migration, as it provides a steady stream of cheap labor.