Poll: 1 in 6 say immigration is nation’s top problem

Seventeen percent of people in the United States say immigration is the nation’s top problem, according to a Gallup poll released Wednesday.

That’s up from 5 percent in June, and is the highest number Gallup has registered for immigration since 2006, when 15 percent said it was the nation’s most pressing problem.

{mosads}Gallup’s new survey found immigration is virtually tied with “dissatisfaction with government” as the nation’s top problem.

The economy and unemployment rank below immigration and “dissatisfaction with government” as top problems, the new poll found.

Only 8 percent now rate healthcare as the top problem, down from 16 percent in January, when problems with the HealthCare.gov website were still making headlines.

An even split of 35 percent said Republicans and Democrats can handle the country’s most important problem, whatever that might be. Nearly 30 percent said they had no opinion. 

The poll comes as the debate over how to fix the crisis at the border heats up in Congress.

President Obama has requested that Congress approve a $3.7 billion package to fix the situation. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) introduced legislation Tuesday that would change a 2008 law to make it easier for the U.S. to deport children who come to the U.S. illegally from Central America. 

The poll surveyed 1,013 adults from July 7 to July 10 and has a 4 percentage-point margin of error.