More Americans say they are worried about illegal immigration, terrorism in 2024: Survey

The number of Americans who say they are worried about illegal immigration and future terrorist attacks rose over the past year, according to a recent poll.

The Gallup survey, released Friday, found there was a 7 percentage point increase in those who are worried “a great deal” about the surge in illegal immigration. The number was comparable to those who said the same about possible terrorist attacks, per the report.

Roughly 48 percent of those surveyed said they are worried “a great deal” about the impact of illegal immigration, up from 41 percent in March 2023. The poll also found that 43 percent of people are worried about the likelihood of future terrorist attacks, up from 36 percent at this time last year.

The increase in those worried about illegal immigration is likely related to a rise in concern among Democrats. The latest survey shows 27 percent of Democrats are worried about the issue, compared to 14 percent in 2023.

On the other side, Republicans saw a 1-point decrease in concern over illegal immigration, going from 74 percent concern in 2023 to 73 percent in the most recent survey. There was also a slight rise in concern among independent voters, up to 44 percent in 2024, compared to 39 percent in 2023.

Concern over future terrorist attacks was highest among Republicans at 59 percent, compared to independent voters at 41 percent and Democrats at 32 percent in the latest poll.

The data comes from the Gallup Poll Social Series on Environment, conducted each March.

Results were based on telephone interviews conducted between March 1-20, with a random sample of 1,016 adults. The margin of sampling error is 4 percentage points.

The Gallup survey’s results come less than a week after a Harvard CAPS-Harris poll found immigration was a chief concern for voters ahead of November’s general election, with 36 percent of voters saying it was the most important issue facing the country.

Inflation and price increases followed closely behind, with 33 percent of voters calling it the most important issue facing the U.S., per the poll.