75 percent of Americans say immigration is a good thing: Gallup poll
Three-quarters of Americans say immigration is a good thing, according to a Gallup poll released today.
The number -- 75 percent -- is a "record-high" and includes majorities from all party groups, according to Gallup.
The findings are based on a poll conduced between June 1 and June 13.
Last year, 71 percent of those polled said they believe immigration is a good thing, while just 19 percent considered it a bad thing.
Since Gallup began taking the poll in 2001, the majority of Americans have viewed immigration as a positive thing for the U.S. in all but one year -- in 2002, when they conducted the poll about nine months after the 9/11 terror attacks.
This year Gallup tested alternative wording on the question, given attempts by the Trump administration to cut back on legal immigration, it said. The poll asked half respondents how they felt about "legal immigration," while the other half was given a question that did not specify a particular type of immigration.
Gallup found that Americans are more likely to support legal immigration, with 84 percent of the people polled describing "legal" immigration as a good thing.
The Trump administration has enacted a "zero-tolerance" policy approach to border protection, which has resulted in thousands of children being separated from their parents upon crossing the border in recent months.
Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday to end the practice, but Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen described the immigration crisis as a "national security issue" today.
"Obviously we are all focused in recent weeks on unaccompanied children and others who migrate across but unfortunately our loopholes encourage that behavior," she told a crowd at the 2018 Capitol Hill National Security Forum.
The House of Representatives is planning to vote on two pieces of immigration legislation, including the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) protections for immigrants who came into the country with their parents at a young age, according to Gallup.
