Poor governance and immigration are top two problems of the United States, says Gallup poll
At a time when leaders of the majority parties stand more divided than ever in the Congress and the Trump administration perpetually under the shadow of investigations, the American citizens consider poor governance and immigration as the country's primary issue, a Gallup poll has revealed.
The survey, which polled more than 1,000 adults from April 1 to April 19 this year, found out that 23 percent of Americans described "the government/poor governance" as the most pressing issue of the country, followed by 21 percent who are concerned about immigration.
In the past 13 months of the poll, these two issues topped the problem chart, receiving double-digit mentions by Americans.
The only exception emerged in November 2018 when 11 percent of Americans named healthcare as one of their most important issues, while 18 percent mentioned government and 21 percent found immigration to be the most concerning issue in the country.
In the recent poll conducted by the pollster, the respondents mentioned healthcare, 7 percent, and race relations/racism, 6 percent, among the country's subsequent pressing problem areas.
"Another nine issues are mentioned by at least 2% of Americans, including the environment/pollution/climate change at 3%, unemployment at 2%, and the gap between rich and poor at 2%," the poll stated.
According to the poll, concerns about the government went down nearly 12 percent from its peak in February after the United States witnessed its longest government shutdown.
The poll also noted that immigration has become a steady concern for Americans over the past few years, with its peak of 22 percent recorded last year in July amid the news of Trump administration separating immigrant families.
"Immigration is currently near the high point of its historical mentions in Gallup's trend -- the peak was 22% recorded last July, when separation of migrant families at the Southern U.S. border was making news. Mentions of immigration had started exceeding 10% routinely a few months earlier, in February 2018, but have averaged 17% since last August. By contrast, from 2001 through 2017, immigration mentions averaged about 5%," the poll stated.
A stark difference in opinion was also noted between Democrats and Republicans this month, particularly on the issue of immigration. While 41 percent of Republicans consider immigration to be the key issue facing the country, it stood in contrast with 18% of political independents and 5% of Democrat who believe the same.
Democrats, according to the poll, were more likely than Republicans this month to see government as the key problem this month, with 32 percent of Democrats voting for the issue in comparison to 19 percent of Republicans who think the same. Governance, however, had a narrower gap in the difference of opinions than immigration.
The survey was conducted through telephonic interviews with adults from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., with 95 percent confidence level and a 4 percent margin of error.