Women Are Becoming More Concerned About Migrants

A new Gallup poll shows women increasingly viewing immigration as a major issue, as part of broader migrant-related concerns in the U.S. that have never been more consistent in two decades.

Pollsters asked American adults the open-ended question about their biggest concerns, and immigration topped the list at 27 percent for the third consecutive month—the first time in 24 years the issue has been named most important for such a duration.

Since 2000 immigration has been viewed by Gallup respondents as the “most important problem” four times, including in 2014, 2018 and 2019. But this is the first year that the issue has remained top of the mind among prospective voters for multiple months in a row.

The importance of the issue among the male and female demographics has essentially flipped in the past three months or so. Now, women view illegal immigration as more important than men see it, by a 31-24 percent margin. The numbers previously placed men as more concerned, in February (31-26 percent) and March (30-26 percent).

Immigration concerns among all respondents have increased from 20 percent in January and hit as high as 28 percent in February and March. In comparison, the survey published April 30 shows the government (18 percent), economy (17 percent) and inflation (13 percent) rounding out the list.

The poll asked 1,001 American adults between April 1-22, with a +/- 4 percent margin of error. Newsweek reached out to Gallup via phone and email for comment.

After immigration tied with the government as Gallup respondents’ top issue in December 2023, in sync with record numbers of migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border, the issue of immigration became even more palpable in February following failure in Congress to reach some kind of bipartisan consensus on policy reforms.

A $118 billion bill that combined southern border security with aid to countries like Ukraine and Israel never made it out of the Senate, though it was expected to die in the House where Speaker Mike Johnson at the time declared the legislation “dead on arrival.”

Federal inaction led to President Joe Biden weighing the use of executive authority to curb illegal border crossings, though nothing ever came to fruition.

Republicans view immigration as a more serious issue than Democrats and independents, though 48 percent of Republicans called it their top issue in April—down from a record-high of 57 percent in February.

While Democrats have expressed more worry about immigration during Donald Trump’s presidency compared to the present, 25 percent of independent voters reported record-high concerns that mirror similar sentiments back in 2019.

There were more than 2.4 million encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border during the 2023 fiscal year, up from roughly 1.7 million in 2021, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.