Majority of US voters say immigrants – regardless of their legal status – often take jobs that citizens do not want
A majority of US registered voters say that immigrants – both illegal and legal – often fill jobs that American citizens do not want, rather than jobs that citizens would like to have.
Three-quarters of respondents say undocumented immigrants fill jobs that citizens don’t want, while a lower percentage (61%) say the same about legal immigrants, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in August 2024.
The impact of immigration on the US labor market has come up repeatedly in the 2024 presidential election. Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her Republican opponent Donald Trump have points of agreement and disagreement on this issue.
The Pew Research Center conducted this survey to examine the views of registered voters on the impact of immigration on the US labor market ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
The poll is based on a survey of 9,201 adults — including 7,569 registered voters — conducted from Aug. 5 to 11. , a random sample of residential addresses who consented to repeated surveys. This type of recruitment gives almost all US adults the opportunity to vote. Surveys were conducted online or over the phone with an interviewer. The study is weighted to represent US adults by gender, race, ethnicity, religion, education and other factors. Read more about the ATP process.
Harris supporters are respondents who said they would vote for Kamala Harris, Democrat, if the 2024 presidential election were held today, or who said they would not vote for any candidate but depended on Harris. Trump supporters are respondents who said they would vote for Donald Trump, Republican, if the 2024 presidential election were held today, or who said they would not vote for any of the candidates but were leaning toward Trump.
Here are the questions used in this test, the topic and the test method.
Estimates of the US immigrant workforce are based on additional data from the 2022 American Community Survey. For labor statistics, “industry” refers to the type of business conducted by the employing organization and “occupation” refers to the type of work that people do in the workplace. More information on the US Census Bureau’s industry and occupation categories can be found here.
In particular, most Harris and Trump supporters say undocumented immigrants often fill jobs Americans don’t want. However, significant differences exist: 90% of Harris supporters hold this view, compared to 59% of Trump supporters.
Majority groups in both coalitions also say that illegal immigrants often take jobs that US citizens do not want. Seven in ten Harris supporters say this, compared to half of Trump supporters (52%).
Overall, attitudes have changed little since May 2020, the last time we asked these questions. At the time, 77% of US adults said undocumented immigrants often fill jobs that US citizens do not want, while 64% said the same about legal immigrants. Party differences have also not changed much since 2020.
Attitudes about race and ethnicity
Voters differ by race and ethnicity on whether undocumented and legal immigrants take jobs that US citizens do not.
Nine in ten Asian voters say undocumented immigrants often fill jobs that U.S. citizens don’t want, as do more Hispanics (79%), Whites (75%) and Whites (71%) ).
- Among Harris’ supporters, many across racial and ethnic lines say undocumented immigrants often take jobs that citizens don’t want.
- Black Harris supporters are unlikely to share this view. Three-thirds of Blacks who support Harris (75%) say undocumented immigrants often fill these jobs, compared to larger shares of Hispanics (93%), Whites (94%) ) and Asian (96%) Harris supporters.
There are insufficient samples to show results by race and ethnicity among Trump supporters in this analysis.
When it comes to legal immigrants, 67% of Hispanic voters overall say these immigrants often fill jobs that U.S. citizens don’t want, as do smaller segments of White voters (61%). Asian (57%) and Black (54%). .
- Harris’s supporters also vary by race and ethnicity. Black and Asian voters who support Harris (56% and 58%) are less likely than White and Hispanic Harris supporters (73% and 77%) to say that legal immigrants often fill jobs that citizens those who do not want it.
Related: Trump and Harris supporters differ on mass deportations but favor border security, high-skilled immigration.
How many immigrants work in the US?
More than 30 million immigrants were in the US workforce as of 2022, accounting for 18% of the total US workforce.
- Legal immigrants made up the majority of foreign workers at 22.2 million, representing about 13% of the total workforce.
- An additional 8.3 million foreign workers were not allowed (about 5% of all employees). This is a significant increase over 2019but it is almost the same as in 2007.
Related: What the data says about US immigrants
What kinds of jobs do US immigrants have?
In industry
When you look at industries – the type of business that employers do – Immigrants account for a quarter of the workforce (27%) in the agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting sector by 2022. This was followed by construction (26%), according to the Center’s analysis of US Census Bureau data. There are no major US industries in which immigrants outnumber the native-born.
The largest parts of not allowed Immigrant workers were in construction (13%), agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (12%), and the leisure and hospitality industry (7%) in 2022. Legal Foreign workers accounted for the largest shares in the transport and services sector (15%) and other service sectors (15%), followed by professional and business services (14 %) and agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (14%) – only. above their share of the general workforce.
By work
When you look at jobs – the type of work that people do at work – Immigrants overall accounted for the largest share of the workforce in agriculture, fishing and forestry (43%) in 2022, followed by construction and extraction (29%). Immigrants outnumbered US-born workers in some occupations, such as manicurists/pedicurists (73%), taxi drivers (57%) and drywall/ceiling installers (53%).
Unauthorized Foreign workers accounted for the largest shares in occupations such as drywall/ceiling tile installers and tapers (33%), roofers (32%), painters and paperhangers (28%), other agricultural workers (24%), construction workers (24%). ), and maids and cleaners (24%). Legal foreign workers had the largest shares in occupations such as manicurists/pedicurists (60%), taxi drivers (44%), translators and interpreters (38%), other health professionals (35% ), and physiology (34%).
Note: Here are the questions used in this test, the topic and the test method.
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