Americans are increasingly more likely to support the view that US workers are hurt rather than helped by immigrants. Such beliefs are hardening, depending on political party preferences, according to new research. The Pew Research Center released a report on Wednesday, indicating that 45 percent of people believe US workers are hurt by the increasing amount of immigrants in the country, while 42 percent believe the opposite.
Americans seem to be more in favor of immigrants than they were in the past. A 2006 study, carried out by Pew, found that 55 percent of Americans believed workers were hurt by immigration, and 28 percent believed they were helped by it. Opinions seem to be diverging ever more on political party lines, with 58 percent convinced that immigration helps and just 30 percent thinking otherwise. In 2006, the results were 30 percent for and 54 percent against.
Meanwhile, Republican voters have gone in the other direction – with sixty-seven percent believing that workers are hurt by immigration and 22 percent disagreeing. In 2006, the split was more favorable, with 61 and 24 percent respectively.
The Pew report found that, whatever concerns Americans may have about immigration, they are more worried by the practice of outsourcing. Eighty percent hold the belief that US workers are hurt by companies sending jobs overseas, while 77 percent have the opinion that the US has also been harmed by selling foreign products in the country.