The partisan split on immigration has never been wider
President Trump's negative immigration rhetoric doesn't appear to be very persuasive.
Back in 1994, 63 percent of Americans seemingly agreed with Trump's current anti-migrant message, saying immigrants burdened the country. But today, the reverse is true: 62 percent of Americans now say "immigrants strengthen our country because of their hard work and talents," a Pew Research Center poll published Thursday shows.
That change of heart is mostly due to Democrats, the poll shows. In 1994, both parties were pretty much tied, with 32 percent of Democrats and 30 percent of the GOP calling immigrants a strength, Pew says. But now, a record 83 percent of Democrats say immigrants strengthen our country, while just 38 percent of Republicans say the same. The two parties have never been more at odds about this issue, and generally felt the same about immigrants until they split in 2006.
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Views on immigrants are easily defined by generation as well, the Pew survey shows. Just 44 percent of the Silent generation, born between 1928-1945, said immigrants strengthen our country, while 75 percent of millennials agreed. The perception of immigrants has generally improved since 1994 — a year when some millennials weren't even born — but has remained more stagnant among older generations.
Pew surveyed 1,505 people via landline and cell phone from Jan. 9-14 with a margin of error of 3 percentage points. See more poll results here.
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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
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