Research

Immigration Survey

May 29, 2025

In April 2025, Galvanize Action surveyed an audience of 559 moderate white women across the United States to learn more about their attitudes and knowledge regarding immigration. The terms “legal immigrant” and “illegal immigrant” are used throughout when referring to documented and undocumented noncitizen immigrants to ensure audience understanding.

QUESTIONS ABOUT GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

	Strongly disagree	Somewhat disagree	Somewhat agree	Strongly agree
All immigrants, regardless of their legal status, should have the same access to government assistance programs, such as food stamps and Medicaid, as U.S. citizens	33%	31%	25%	11%
Legal immigrants who meet eligibility requirements should have the same access to government assistance programs, such as food stamps and Medicaid, as U.S. citizens	4%	9%	38%	49%
Government resources should be prioritized for U.S. citizens and legal immigrants over illegal immigrants	5%	14%	33%	48%
Government resources should be prioritized for U.S. citizens over all immigrants, regardless of their legal status	20%	30%	30%	20%
Even legal immigrants who pay taxes should not be eligible for taxpayer-funded benefits such as food stamps or Medicaid	45%	33%	14%	8%

A large majority (87%) of women agree that “legal” immigrants who meet eligibility requirements should have the same access to government assistance as US citizens. However, only 36% agree that all immigrants, regardless of legal status, should have this access.
Similarly, a large majority (81%) agree that government resources should be prioritized for US citizens and “legal” immigrants over “illegal” immigrants, but that agreement dropped to 50% when we asked if government resources should be prioritized for US citizens over “all immigrants.”

QUESTIONS ABOUT CITIZENSHIP
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

	Strongly disagree	Somewhat disagree	Somewhat agree	Strongly agree
All immigrants, regardless of their legal status, should be given access to a pathway to citizenship	19%	26%	32%	23%
Illegal immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for years should be given access to a pathway to citizenship	12%	21%	34%	33%
Illegal immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children should be allowed to stay and apply for legal status	8%	12%	35%	45%
Only legal immigrants who go through the proper process should be eligible for citizenship	8%	15%	32%	45%
No immigrants, legal or illegal, should be given access to a pathway to citizenship	54%	30%	10%	6%

A majority of moderate women support a pathway to citizenship in all listed circumstances. Only 16% fully oppose pathways to citizenship.
Support for pathways to citizenship is highest for undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children (80%) and lowest (55%) for all immigrants regardless of status.

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ECONOMY
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

	Strongly disagree	Somewhat disagree	Somewhat agree	Strongly agree
Immigrants, regardless of status, make the U.S. stronger by filling jobs, starting businesses, and contributing to the economy	8%	28%	37%	28%
Immigrants help grow the economy by filling jobs that Americans don’t want	6%	16%	45%	34%
Legal immigration should continue, but the government should limit work visas in industries where American citizens are struggling to find jobs	8%	19%	50%	23%
The U.S. should place limitations on the number of work visas granted to foreign workers in all industries to protect American jobs	12%	24%	40%	24%
All immigrants, regardless of status, are hurting the American economy and should be prevented from working in the U.S. altogether	47%	34%	13%	5%

A majority (65%) agreed that immigrants make the US stronger by filling jobs, starting businesses, and contributing to the economy, and an even stronger majority (79%) agreed that immigrants help grow the economy by filling jobs that Americans don’t want.
However, a majority (64%) also agree that the government should limit work visas granted to foreign workers in all industries to protect American jobs.

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

	Strongly disagree	Somewhat disagree	Somewhat agree	Strongly agree
Any policies enacted to restrict immigration should still treat immigrants with dignity and fairness	2%	6%	35%	57%
Any policies suggested to restrict immigration should follow the law, and if a judge rules against a policy, that ruling should be honored and the policy should not be enacted	5%	21%	39%	35%
The U.S. should significantly restrict immigration to protect American jobs and culture, even if it means separating families at the border	39%	26%	22%	12%
The federal government should use military force at the border if necessary to stop illegal immigration	28%	20%	29%	23%
Any government official who doesn’t support mass deportations and a border shutdown is weak on immigration	43%	23%	22%	12%
If restricting immigration requires changing the Constitution, then the Constitution should be changed	43%	27%	22%	8%
Immigrants are an existential threat to our country, and we must take any action necessary to stop them	44%	28%	20%	7%

A narrow majority (52%) agreed that the federal government should use military force at the border if necessary to stop illegal immigration.
A stronger majority (66%) of respondents disagree with the statement “Any government official who doesn’t support mass deportations and a border shutdown is weak on immigration,” and even more (70%) disagree with changing the Constitution in order to restrict immigration.

QUESTIONS ABOUT SECURITY
To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements?

	Strongly disagree	Somewhat disagree	Somewhat agree	Strongly agree
Immigration laws should focus on providing fair and humane treatment, rather than punishment or deportation	7%	22%	32%	40%
Illegal immigrants should not be deported if they have no criminal record and contribute positively to society	16%	26%	30%	28%
Stronger border security is needed to reduce illegal immigration, but mass deportation is not the solution	9%	21%	34%	37%
The U.S. should immediately deport all illegal immigrants, regardless of their circumstances	37%	27%	21%	16%
The U.S. should shut down the borders entirely and allow no more immigrants to enter	33%	30%	20%	16%

A majority of women (71%) agreed that stronger border security is needed, but mass deportation is not the solution.
A majority also disagreed with extreme measures such as deporting all “illegal” immigrants (64% disagreed) and shutting down the borders entirely (63% disagreed).

QUESTIONS ABOUT DISINFORMATION
To what extent do you believe the following statements are true?

	Fully true	Somewhat true	Somewhat false	Fully false
Immigrants receive more in public benefits than they contribute in taxes	20%	33%	25%	22%
Illegal immigrants are eligible for federal programs like food stamps and Medicaid	15%	41%	27%	17%
Immigrants do not pay taxes	9%	29%	37%	25%
Becoming a U.S. citizen is a simple and straightforward process	8%	22%	39%	31%
Most immigrants are here illegally	11%	28%	40%	22%
Immigrants commit more crimes than U.S. citizens	8%	22%	35%	35%
The U.S. had completely open borders for the last few years	21%	27%	26%	25%
Immigrants are given housing that is better than what most U.S. citizens can get	16%	30%	25%	29%
The government provides immigrants with more support than it does for citizens	18%	31%	23%	28%
Immigrants take jobs away from American workers	11%	32%	33%	24%
Immigrants bring diseases into the U.S.	8%	33%	32%	28%
Immigrants are a major cause of rising crime in cities	10%	31%	29%	30%
Most immigrants don’t want to assimilate or learn English	13%	32%	33%	21%
Many immigrants illegally vote in U.S. elections	9%	25%	32%	34%

The most-believed disinformation narrative was “illegal immigrants are eligible for federal programs like food stamps and Medicaid” (56%).
The least-believed disinformation narratives were “Becoming a U.S. citizen is a simple and straightforward process” and “Immigrants commit more crimes than U.S. citizens” at 30% “fully or somewhat true” each.
Setting aside the “fully true” and “fully false” extremes, some of the above statements show notably higher levels of “somewhat true” than “somewhat false.”
- “Illegal immigrants are eligible for federal programs like food stamps and Medicaid” (41% somewhat true versus 27% somewhat false).
- “Immigrants receive more in public benefits than they contribute in taxes” (33% somewhat true versus 25% somewhat false).
- “Immigrants are given housing that is better than what most US citizens can get” (30% somewhat true versus 25% somewhat false).
- “The government provides immigrants with more support than it does for its citizens” (31% somewhat true versus 23% somewhat false).

QUESTIONS ABOUT ATTITUDES
To what extent do you believe the following statements are true?

	Strongly disagree	Somewhat disagree	Somewhat agree	Strongly agree
I often feel conflicted between wanting to be accepting of immigrants and hearing negative things about them	22%	26%	42%	10%
I often feel like society pressures me to be more accepting of immigrants than I am comfortable with	33%	31%	23%	13%
It is very important to me to be seen as a good person when it comes to my views on immigration	8%	26%	47%	19%

A majority of respondents somewhat or strongly agree (52%) that they often feel conflicted between wanting to be accepting of immigrants and hearing negative things about them.
A majority (66%) also somewhat or strongly agree that it is very important to them to be seen as a good person when it comes to views on immigration.

COMPARISONS: JANUARY VERSUS APRIL
Three questions asked in this survey were also asked in a different survey with a different group of moderate white women in January.

Statement	Month	Strongly agree	Somewhat agree	Neither	Somewhat disagree	Strongly disagree
Immigrants take desirable jobs away from American citizens like me	January	10%	20%	23%	24%	22%
	April	9%	17%	22%	21%	31%
Immigrants make America better for everyone	January	12%	28%	36%	14%	10%
Immigrants make America better for everyone	April	24%	28%	30%	11%	8%
Immigrants increase crime rates in the United States	January	12%	24%	29%	19%	15%
Immigrants increase crime rates in the United States	April	11%	24%	22%	21%	22%

More women strongly disagreed with the statement “Immigrants take desirable jobs away from American citizens like me” in April (31%) compared to January (22%).
More women strongly agreed with the statement “Immigrants make America better for everyone” in April (24%) than in January (12%).
More women strongly disagreed with the statement “Immigrants increase crime rates in the United States” in April (22%) than in January (15%).

ACTIONS INVOLVING CHILDREN
Thinking about the government deporting unaccompanied children, which of the following statements comes closest to your point of view?

Support actions including deporting children	17%
Support actions except deporting children	34%
Oppose actions except deporting children	9%
Oppose actions including deporting children	39%

A majority (73%) of moderate women in this sample oppose deporting children.

CONFIDENCE IN IMMIGRATION SYSTEM KNOWLEDGE
How confident do you feel in your understanding of how the US immigration system works?

We’ve segmented this question by whether or not the respondent knows someone who immigrated to the US.

Do you know someone who has immigrated to the US?	Not at all confident	Slightly confident	Mostly confident	Extremely confident
Yes	9%	38%	43%	10%
No	21%	42%	32%	5%

Among the full sample, 58% of women said they personally know someone who has immigrated to the United States.
Women who know someone who has immigrated to the US are more confident in their understanding of the US immigration system (53%) than women who do not know someone who has immigrated to the US (37%).

IMMIGRATION’S IMPACT ON YOUR FAMILY
Which of the following best describes your experience?

Do you know someone who has immigrated to the US?	Immigration has directly benefitted me or my family	Immigration has directly harmed me or my family	Immigration has NOT directly affected me or my family
Yes	18%	10%	72%
No	7%	9%	85%

Overall, the vast majority (77%) say that immigration has not directly affected them or their families. Thirteen percent say that immigration has directly benefited them and 10% say that immigration has directly harmed them.
Women who do not know an immigrant are more likely to say that immigration has not directly affected them or their family (85%). The majority of women who do know an immigrant also said that immigration has not directly affected them (72%). Of the women who personally know an immigrant, more say that immigration has benefited them (18%) than harmed them (10%).

CONCERNS ABOUT IMMIGRATION
Women were asked to select their TOP concern about immigration from a provided list:

Concern	Percentage
Crime and public safety	18%
Not concerned	17%
Human trafficking	16%
Strain on government resources	11%
Economy	10%
Drug trafficking	9%
Overpopulation and resource scarcity	8%
Terrorism	5%
Jobs and wages	4%
Cultural change	3%

Seventeen percent of respondents said that they are not concerned about immigration.
The most frequent concern was crime and public safety (18%). Following this concern, 16% said their top concern is human trafficking.
The least selected options were cultural change (3%), jobs and wages (4%), and terrorism (5%).

Below is the same list of concerns, this time segmented by 2024 vote choice:

Concern	Harris	Trump	Other/didn’t vote
Crime and public safety	7%	28%	21%
Not concerned	29%	4%	14%
Human trafficking	17%	12%	22%
Strain on government resources	9%	14%	9%
Economy	10%	12%	6%
Drug trafficking	11%	6%	9%
Overpopulation and resource scarcity	7%	11%	5%
Terrorism	5%	5%	6%
Jobs and wages	3%	5%	7%
Cultural change	2%	4%	3%

Trump voters were most likely to be concerned about crime and public safety (28%), strain on government resources (14%), human trafficking, and the economy (12% each).
Harris voters were most likely to say they are not concerned (29%) or to be concerned about human trafficking (17%) or drug trafficking (11%).
Those who did not vote or voted for a different candidate are most likely to be concerned about human trafficking (22%) and crime and public safety (21%), or to say they are not concerned (14%).

FEELINGS ABOUT CURRENT SITUATIONS
We presented respondents with a list of statements and asked, “Which of the following words describe how you feel about the following situations currently happening in the United States?”

Immigrants from Central and South American countries being afraid to travel for fear of not being allowed back in		Immigrants from European countries being afraid to travel for fear of not being allowed back in
Concerned	40%	Concerned	31%
Worried	30%	Worried	29%
Uncomfortable	21%	Uncomfortable	25%
Conflicted	19%	Angry	18%
Compassionate	16%	Skeptical	15%
Mothers separated from their children while seeking asylum		Immigrants being targeted in workplace raids
Worried	43%	Concerned	34%
Concerned	42%	Uncomfortable	31%
Angry	39%	Angry	31%
Uncomfortable	37%	Worried	29%
Frustrated	26%	Frustrated	19%
Families waiting years to be reunited due to immigration backlogs		Undocumented students unable to access financial aid or attend college
Concerned	36%	Concerned	26%
Frustrated	29%	Indifferent	20%
Worried	27%	Conflicted	19%
Uncomfortable	25%	Worried	19%
Angry	25%	Frustrated	16%
Refugee children living in overcrowded shelters or tent facilities		Long-time community members being deported after a minor legal infraction
Concerned	45%	Concerned	32%
Worried	43%	Uncomfortable	26%
Uncomfortable	38%	Angry	26%
Angry	31%	Worried	25%
Frustrated	23%	Frustrated	20%

“Concerned” was the first or second most-commonly-selected feeling for all of the situations above.
“Indifferent” and “Skeptical” each only come up once, in reference to undocumented students and immigrants from European countries respectively.