Majority of Adults in U.S. Support High-Skilled Immigration

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Majority of Adults in U.S. Support High-Skilled Immigration

Immigration has increasingly become a hot-button issue on the national stage, with the current administration taking a hard line stance against it. Based on news coverage, it’s easy to assume that the nation itself is deeply divided along party lines about the immigration issue. However, recent data from a Pew Research Center survey indicates that more than three quarters of Americans, 78 percent, are in favor of encouraging the immigration of highly-skilled people.

The survey asked people in twelve countries around the world their opinions. The United States fell squarely in the middle, with more people in favor of high-skilled immigration than the citizens of other developed countries including France, Spain and the Netherlands, but a slightly lower approval rate than Australia, Germany, Canada, the U.K., or Sweden.

Analyzing the data further, it isn’t surprising that the demographic groups most in favor of immigration are younger adults, adults with higher education, and those with higher income.

36 percent of immigrants in the U.S. today have college educations. This figure is lower than in several other countries, including Canada and Australia, where an astonishing 65 percent and 63 percent of immigrants, respectively, have earned college degrees. The U.S. figure is higher than those in Spain, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Greece, and Italy.

Although the percentage of immigrants in the U.S. is around 16 percent, the U.S. is home to an estimated 14.7 million immigrants who are college-educated. This is actually the largest population of immigrants with college degrees.

While pushing for limited immigration overall, the current administration has advocated for immigration laws that would favor immigrants with specialized degrees or knowledge over those without higher education. It’s an issue immigration-rights groups and attorneys are watching carefully.

At The Immigration Law Center, we advise clients and provide legal representation for employment-related immigration, family-based immigration, and investment immigration matters. To learn how we can help you, contact us today.