Here’s how Americans feel about immigration, white privilege, according to new survey

Do immigrant newcomers strengthen American society?

A majority of Americans say they do, though attitudes vary by party affiliation.

Democrats are overwhelmingly more likely than Republicans to say that they do, but young Republicans’ views tell a slightly different story in that they seem more open to seeing immigration as a good thing for the U.S.

About 57% of Americans believe that immigrant newcomers strengthen American society, according to a new survey released this week by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center.

Pew found that partisanship “continues to be the dividing line in the American public’s political attitudes” but notes that “there are substantial divisions within both parties on fundamental political values, views of current issues and the severity of the problems facing the nation.”

There’s a sharp divide between Democrats and Republicans on this question:

• 78% of Democrats say immigrant newcomers strengthen America.
• While only 31% of Republicans feel the same.

The partisan divides on this question can be largely credited to the composition of the two major political parties, said Alec Tyson, senior researcher at the Pew Research Center.

“Democrats’ ranks have started to include more nonwhites — blacks, Hispanics, Asians — and that share has been growing more rapidly than in the Republican Party,” Tyson said.

But Republicans’ attitudes on whether immigrants strengthen the country vary by age:

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• Only 22% of Republicans older than 50 agree with the statement.
• About 33% of those ages 35 to 49 say the same.
• And about 49% of those ages 18 to 34 say new immigrants strengthen America.

Hayden Padgett, the 27-year-old chairman of the Texas Young Republicans, said the findings don’t surprise him. He said that difference of opinion between older and younger Republicans has always been clear to him.

“A lot of that is because we as young Republicans realize that immigration has driven a lot of the dynamism that has made America a great place to live,” Padgett said. “Those are the proof points for us.”

Padgett said he believes immigrants have made great economic and cultural contributions to the country, but said he’s not decided on whether more immigration is good for the country.

“The qualification we have is that we know immigration is a good thing, but it must be done in a legal and orderly way to be done effectively,” Padgett said.

Texas GOP chairman James Dickey did not respond to a request for comment.

The survey also found that about 67% of Americans say that the country’s openness to immigrants from around the world “is essential to who we are as a nation.”

“People with more education, nonwhites and younger people are more likely than others” to say that the U.S. being a country open to receiving immigrants from around the world is an important part of the national identity, researchers found.

The survey of 9,895 U.S. adults was conducted from September 3 to 15 and was conducted on the Pew Research Center’s American Trends Panel, which takes responses online.

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On white privilege

About 58% of Americans say that white people benefit either “a great deal” or “a fair amount” from societal advantages of being white.

Black and Hispanic Americans were more likely to say white people benefit from being white:

• About 89% of black Americans said whites enjoy privileges that they don’t.
• Some 74% of Hispanics said they agreed.
• And about 47% of white Americans said they had advantages due to being white.

The partisan divide on the question of white privilege is “particularly stark,” researchers found.

About 71% of Republicans or Republican-leaning respondents say that white people “get few or no advantages in society that black people do not have.” Meanwhile, some 83% of Democrats or Democrat-leaning respondents say white people do have those advantages.

But views on race and privilege also vary internally by race and ethnicity within the parties, Tyson said.

About 70% of black Democrats say whites enjoy advantages that blacks don’t have, while only about 40% of white Democrats feel the same way. About 47% of Hispanic Democrats said they agreed.

That kind of divide, Tyson said, shows how much of a factor race can be even within political coalitions.

“Yes, divide between Republicans and Democrats is enormous and predominant, but even within these parties you can still find meaningful divides,” Tyson said.