New polling in 22 countries on all continents has found there are far more citizens who are concerned about what immigration is doing to their homeland than who approve of it.
Immigration enthusiasts in U.S. politics and media often suggest that Americans are being provincial and out of step with the modern world when they object to the current flow of foreign workers and their dependents into the U.S. But the French research firm Ipsos' polling shows that globalists with their preference for high immigration are the ones out of touch with popular opinion around the world.
Most of those polled said they believe the number of foreigners in their country has been increasing. And by more than 2-to-1, respondents said immigration is having a negative impact rather than a positive one.
The residents of most of the countries are even more skeptical about immigration than are Americans, according to the polling.
(See Van's blog about what he heard from Bahamians on his vacation last week in their islands.)
The 22 populations surveyed included India, South Korea, Japan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Australia, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, the U.S., Canada, Russia and nine countries in all regions of Europe.
To the statement "immigration is causing my country to change in ways that I don't like," respondents overall answered "agree" over "disagree" by a 2-to-1 ratio.
By a little less than a 2-to-1 ratio, respondents also agreed over disagreed that "there are too many immigrants in our country" and that "immigrants in your country have made it more difficult for people of your nationality to get jobs."
Ipsos surveyed 500 to 1,000 people in each of the 22 countries. Ipsos describes itself as the third largest global research organization employing 16,000 people working in 87 countries.
This polling reinforces my long-held belief that true internationalists (as opposed to globalists) honor the desire of all nations to make their own choices about their country's culture and future direction without the disruption of mass immigration. What we desire for our country is also what we desire for other countries -- self-determination, something that almost by definition requires control of one's borders and practical numerical limits on legal immigration.
ROY BECK is President & Founder of NumbersUSA
