Only a quarter of Americans think immigration is bad for the United States
The immigrant population of the United States is at an all time high, with over 41 million immigrants living in the United States. Immigrants now make up 13% of the population, the highest percentage since before the First World War. The United States is one of the most popular destination for immigrants in the world, with 20% of all migrants heading here. Compared to illegal immigration, legal immigration is relatively uncontroversial, though potential GOP 2016 candidate Scott Walker did raise the possibility of limiting legal migration.
YouGov's latest research shows that most Americans do not think that the current level of legal immigration is too high. Only 28% say that legal immigration is currently too high, while 35% say that it is about right and 17% say that legal immigration into the United States is too low.
Republicans (39%) are the most likely to say that legal immigration is too high, but even among them most (53%) say that current levels are about right (41%) or too low (12%). Regionally, the West (23%) is the least likely to say that legal immigration is too high, while the South (31%) is the most likely.
When Americans were asked whether immigration makes the United States a better or worse place, 36% say that immigration makes the US a better place while 25% say that it makes it a worse place. 24% say that it doesn't make a difference either way.
Nearly half of Democrats (47%) believe immigration improves America, while 40% of Republicans think it hurts America. Nevertheless, even among Republicans nearly half are neutral or positive about the contribution of immigrants, with 28% saying that immigration makes America better and 20% believing that it makes no difference.
