Immigration Survey: Most Minnesotans Don't Want To Build A Wall
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A new survey on immigration shows that Minnesotans don't support building a wall along the Mexican border and that most feel that immigrants have a positive impact on the country.
The survey, conducted last fall by the St. Cloud State University Survey Center, was based on phone interviews with 623 Minnesotans. The adult participants were asked questions on politics, immigration policy and their thoughts on specific immigrant groups.
According to the results, 64 percent of those surveyed thought immigrants had a positive impact on the country. The survey's margin of error was 4 percent.
On the other hand, 26 percent of participants thought that immigrants had a negative impact on the country.
The ways Minnesotans see different immigrant groups were shown to vary. For instance, more than 80 percent of Minnesotans said they welcomed immigration from Mexico, the survey showed. Meanwhile, 55 percent said they welcomed immigration from Somalia.
Political persuasion made a difference on this matter, with Democrats and Independents more likely than their Republican counterparts to support immigration for both groups, the survey showed.
On questions of policy, most respondents rejected the idea of building walls along the Mexican or Canadian border. However, 85 percent of participants indicated support for a stronger U.S. presence along the borders.
Where Minnesotans live also seemed to impact their views on immigration. More residents in the Twin Cities metro (70 percent of them) thought immigration was positive for the country. In Greater Minnesota, residents still generally support immigration, just less so (56 percent).