70% of Americans surveyed in a new poll conducted by Reuters/Ipsos are concerned that traditional US customs and beliefs are being threatened by the influx of undocumented immigrants into the country, even as President Obama contemplates taking executive action to usurp Congress’s authority and loosen the nation’s immigration policy.
The findings of the new poll indicate that immigration is likely to join the economy and health care as the top issues that could lead more Republicans to go to the polls in the upcoming congressional election in November. Congress has failed to come to any agreements on the topic of comprehensive immigration reform, and media reports suggest that the president could take independent action over the course of the next couple of weeks to delay deportations and give up to five million undocumented immigrants the legal right to work in the United States.
While liberal voters and the Hispanic community might welcome such actions, the new online poll indicates that the great majority of the country might not be so welcoming. In spite of the US Chamber of Commerce and the White House arguing that business benefits from legal immigration, 63% of those surveyed believe that the economy is burdened by more immigrants.
Immigration has started to challenge Obamacare and the economy as a hot topic for ordinary voters in recent months. This is due to the massive media coverage of the arrival of tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants ‒ many of them unaccompanied minors ‒ from Central America.