Poll Tracker

How powerful an issue will immigration be in the presidential campaign? A Gallup survey conducted June 5 through July 6 suggests that it will not be as hot-button an issue as it was in some primary states and in the tangling of legislation on Capitol Hill.

Gallup says 39 percent of Americans favor a reduction in immigration compared to 45 percent a year ago. Gallup says that during much of the post-9/11 period at least a plurality of Americans had previously favored cutbacks, with the high point being 58 percent after the terrorist attacks. Americans think immigration is a good thing for the country by a 64 percent to 30 percent margin, a slight increase from a year ago. Gallup noted that its polling in June found only 27 percent of Americans said immigration would be an "extremely important" factor in how they voted, which ranked it last among eight issues tested.

Forty-one percent of whites said immigration should be kept at its present level, 15 percent said it should be increased and 42 percent said it should be decreased. Thirty-five percent of blacks said it should stay at current levels, 21 percent said it should be increased and 39 percent said it should be decreased. As for Hispanics, 40 percent favored keeping it at current levels while those who favored increases or decreases tied at 28 percent. Large majorities of whites and blacks said immigrants costs taxpayers too much while not paying their fair share of taxes. Hispanics believed the opposite, also by large margins.