Americans are much more worried about health care than illegal immigration, poll shows


President Trump might have declared a national emergency because of the situation at America's southern border, but most Americans are much more concerned about other matters — most notably access to affordable health care — a new Gallup poll shows.
Gallup presented responders with 15 issues that the United States faces at the moment, asking them to rate how much they worry about each on a scale that includes "a great deal," "fair amount," and "only a little/not at all." Health care came out on top, with 55 percent of people saying they worry about it a "great deal." And it's no surprise — a majority of those polled said have said they were greatly concerned about health care for 18 straight years.
Illegal immigration, meanwhile, clocks in at 11th place in the "great deal" category at 36 percent. And while a majority are worried about that issue in some capacity, it also had the second highest response rate for "only a little/not at all" at 45 percent, trailing only unemployment. Other top issues included drug use, wealth distribution, and federal spending.
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On Monday evening Trump himself unleashed a tweetstorm criticizing ObamaCare and touting the promise of a yet unknown Republican counterplan that he said would be voted on after the GOP wins back the House. So, although immigration has remained a constant source of heated debate since Trump began his quest for the presidency in 2015, it does, indeed, look like health care may take center stage in the 2020 election cycle, reflecting what the people are feeling.
The Gallup poll was conducted via telephone interviews with 1,039 U.S. adults between March 1-10. The margin of error is five percentage points. See the full results at Gallup.
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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
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