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Rasmussen Reports Weekly Immigration Index - Week Ending January 4, 2020

The Rasmussen Reports Immigration Index for the week of December 29, 2019 through January 4, 2020 is at 98.4, down from 100.1 the week before.

The Index is based on a series of questions designed to determine whether voters are moving toward an immigration system that encourages more immigration to the United States or a one that reduces the level of immigration here. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

All surveys are compared to a baseline – set the week of December 2-6, 2019 - which has been given an Index of 100. A weekly finding moving up over 100 indicates growing support for a more expansive immigration system. A weekly index number falling below 100 indicates increased support for a more restrictive immigration system.

Because weekly surveying for the Index has just begun, however, it is too early to draw any conclusions. Like all tracking surveys, it is best understood over time.

Crosstabstopline responses and historical data are also available to the public.

The Immigration Index will be updated every Tuesday at noon Eastern.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

Among the findings in the latest survey, 44% of voters say the government is doing too little to reduce illegal border crossings and visitor overstays. Twenty-nine percent (29%) think it’s doing too much, while 17% rate the level of action as about right.

When it comes to legal immigration, 48% say the government should be adding no more than 750,000 new immigrants each year, with 34% who say it should be fewer than 500,000. Thirty-eight percent (38%) favor adding one million or more legal newcomers per year, with 11% who say the figure should be higher than 1.5 million. Fifteen percent (15%) are undecided.

Sixty percent (60%) of voters favor allowing legal immigrants to bring only their spouse and minor children with them. Just 30% support allowing them to eventually bring other adult relatives in a process that can include extended family and their spouses’ families.

When businesses say they are having trouble finding Americans to take jobs in construction, manufacturing, hospitality and other service work, 60% believe it is better for the businesses to raise the pay and try harder to recruit non-working Americans even it if causes prices to rise. Only 24% disagree and feel it is better for the country to bring in new foreign workers to help keep business costs and prices down, but 16% are not sure which is better.

Only 26% of voters think Congress should increase the number of foreign workers taking higher-skill U.S. jobs. Fifty-eight percent (58%) believe instead that the country already has enough talented people to train and recruit for most of those jobs. Fifteen percent (15%) are undecided.

The survey of 1,250 Likely U.S. Voters was conducted December 29-30, 2019 and January 2-4, 2020 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Rasmussen Reports is a media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion information.

We conduct public opinion polls on a variety of topics to inform our audience on events in the news and other topics of interest. To ensure editorial control and independence, we pay for the polls ourselves and generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions, sponsorships, and advertising. Nightly polling on politics, business and lifestyle topics provides the content to update the Rasmussen Reports web site many times each day. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Additionally, the data drives a daily update newsletter and various media outlets across the country.

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To learn more about our methodology, click here.