Immigration tops the list of issues that Americans believe should be of prime importance to Congress and President Donald Trump, according to a new poll from CBS News. Of those surveyed, 15 percent believe that immigration should be top of the list of problems tackled in 2017 by the President and Congress.
The second most important issue on the minds of Americans is a tie between jobs and the economy, in the eyes of 13 percent of survey respondents. Another 11 percent put health care as the third most vital issue. The results of the poll also show that Americans believe the US government should be doing more to ensure that newcomers to US soil are not threats to national security. Three out of four polled Republicans were convinced that current guidelines are insufficient.
Although concerned by the potential for security risks, six in ten Americans still want to see a program offering the prospect for a path to US citizenship for undocumented immigrants already living in the US. Thirteen percent believe they should not be offered citizenship but still allowed to stay in the country, and 23 percent want them to be forced to leave.
43 percent of Republicans favor deporting all undocumented immigrants, compared to 79 percent of Democrats, who want to see them given the chance to become US citizens. 38 percent of Republicans believe there is more chance that undocumented immigrants will commit crimes than US citizens, compared to just nine percent of Democrats.