A steady 27% of Americans say the most important problem facing the U.S. is immigration, topping Gallup’s open-ended trend for the third consecutive month, the longest stretch for this particular issue in the past 24 years.
The latest results are based on an April 1-22 Gallup survey, as elevated numbers of migrants continued to seek entry at the U.S. southern border. Immigration tied with the government as the top issue in December 2023, when the number of migrant encounters at the southern border set a record for a single month. In February, as a bipartisan measure to address the issue failed in the U.S. Senate, immigration overtook the government as the nation’s most important problem and has remained there since.
In addition to these recent instances, immigration has topped Gallup’s most important problem list four times since 2000 (either alone or tied with another issue), including at several points in 2014, 2018 and 2019. However, 2024 is the first time that immigration has remained the top issue for multiple successive months.
Other issues — including the economy in general, the government, the Iraq War, inflation, COVID-19, unemployment and terrorism — have held the top spot more often than immigration since Gallup began updating the most important problem question monthly in March 2001. Except for inflation and unemployment, all of the other issues have had longer consecutive runs as the top issue than immigration currently has.
The economy has been the top problem far more often than any other issue (101 times over the past 24 years), while the government has held the top spot 85 times and the Iraq War registered 50 top appearances.
