Half of Americans believe President Biden should be doing more to stop illegal immigration

A new Reuters/Ipsos poll also finds that a plurality of Americans opposes using tax dollars to transport migrants

The author(s)
  • Chris Jackson Senior Vice President, US, Public Affairs
  • Annaleise Azevedo Lohr Director, US, Public Affairs
  • Jocelyn Duran Account Manager, US, Public Affairs
  • Johnny Sawyer Senior Research Manager, US, Public Affairs
Get in touch

Washington D.C., September 23, 2022 -  A new Reuters/Ipsos poll finds over half of Americans have heard, read, or seen something about Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis transporting migrants from Texas to other states and cities such as Washington D.C., Chicago, New York, and Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. While only 7% of Americans believe immigration is the country’s biggest problem, 50% say President Biden should be doing more about blocking illegal immigrants from entering the United States.

Detailed Findings

Less than 1 in 10 (7%) Americans say immigration is the country’s biggest problem. Republicans (14%) are most likely to say it is, compared to only 2% of Democrats and 6% of independents. However, 50% of Americans say President Biden should be doing more about blocking illegal immigrants from entering the United States, a sentiment Republicans (76%) are most likely to agree with, followed by 55% of independents. Only about a third of Americans (37%) say Biden should be doing more to treat migrants and asylum seekers at the border in a more humane way. Democrats (46%) are more likely to agree than Republicans (32%) and independents (29%).

Over half of Americans have heard some or a lot about both Texas Gov. Abbott (58%) and Florida Gov. DeSantis (59%) transporting migrants from Texas to other states and cities across the United States. Two in five Americans (40%) say they oppose leaders of states transporting migrants to other states or D.C. and 46% oppose the use of tax dollars to do so. In fact, 45% of Americans strongly or somewhat agree that state leaders transporting migrants across state lines are committing illegal human trafficking. Democrats (63%) and independents (40%) are more likely to agree with this, while Republicans are more likely to disagree (49%).

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Still, nearly half of Americans say that any Democrats who complain about migrants being transported to their states or cities are hypocrites and 43% say that states which have had migrants transported to them have an obligation to take in and provide for them.

Overall, only 35% of Americans think it should be easier for people to immigrate to the United States and 44% say the United States should be more welcoming of immigrants from all over the world. Forty-three percent support giving legal status to undocumented or illegal immigrants.

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between September 21-22, 2022, on behalf of Thomson Reuters. For this survey, a sample of 1,005 adults age 18+ from the continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawaii was interviewed online in English. The sample includes 449 Democrats, 361 Republicans, and 123 independents.

The sample was randomly drawn from Ipsos’ online panel, partner online panel sources, and “river” sampling and does not rely on a population frame in the traditional sense. Ipsos uses fixed sample targets, unique to each study, in drawing a sample. After a sample has been obtained from the Ipsos panel, Ipsos calibrates respondent characteristics to be representative of the U.S. Population using standard procedures such as raking-ratio adjustments. The source of these population targets is U.S. Census 2019 American Community Survey data. The sample drawn for this study reflects fixed sample targets on demographics. Posthoc weights were made to the population characteristics on gender, age, race/ethnicity, region, and education.

Statistical margins of error are not applicable to online non-probability polls. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including but not limited to coverage error and measurement error. Where figures do not sum to 100, this is due to the effects of rounding. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the poll has a credibility interval of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points for all respondents. Ipsos calculates a design effect (DEFF) for each study based on the variation of the weights, following the formula of Kish (1965). This study had a credibility interval adjusted for design effect of the following (n=1,005, DEFF=1.5, adjusted Confidence Interval=+/-5.3 percentage points).

The poll also has a credibility interval of plus or minus 5.7 percentage points for Democrats, plus or minus 6.3 percentage points for Republicans, and plus or minus 10.8 percentage points for independents.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Chris Jackson
Senior Vice President, US
Public Affairs
+1 202 420-2025
[email protected]

Annaleise Azevedo Lohr
Director, US
Public Affairs
[email protected]

About Ipsos

Ipsos is the world’s third-largest Insights and Analytics company, present in 90 markets and employing more than 18,000 people.

Our passionately curious research professionals, analysts, and scientists have built unique multi-specialist capabilities that provide true understanding and powerful insights into the actions, opinions, and motivations of citizens, consumers, patients, customers, or employees. We serve more than 5,000 clients across the world with 75 business solutions.

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The author(s)
  • Chris Jackson Senior Vice President, US, Public Affairs
  • Annaleise Azevedo Lohr Director, US, Public Affairs
  • Jocelyn Duran Account Manager, US, Public Affairs
  • Johnny Sawyer Senior Research Manager, US, Public Affairs

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