PRRI Releases Landmark Immigration Study

Amid a national debate on immigration policy, PRRI’s latest survey shows that over the last decade, differences on immigration have increasingly become defining features of the two political parties. The survey, released today, shows that in 2010, Americans were evenly divided over whether immigrants strengthen the country because of their hard work and talents or were a burden to the country because they take jobs, housing, and health care (45% and 43%, respectively). At that time, a majority (55%) of Democrats, compared to 35% of Republicans, agreed that immigrants strengthen our country. Today, six in ten Americans (60%) say immigrants strengthen the country. Democrats are more than twice as likely as Republicans to express this view (79% vs. 31%). “The widening chasm between Democrats and Republicans on immigration-related attitudes and policies is the new face of the culture wars,” notes PRRI CEO Robert P. Jones. “And these rifts also run through the religious landscape, demarcating white Christian sub-groups, who are far more fearful of immigrants and supportive of restrictive immigration policies, from other religious groups.” Read more from the survey here.

PRRI Releases Landmark Immigration Study

Amid a national debate on immigration policy, PRRI’s latest survey shows that over the last decade, differences on immigration have increasingly become defining features of the two political parties. The survey, released today, shows that in 2010, Americans were evenly divided over whether immigrants strengthen the country because of their hard work and talents or were a burden to the country because they take jobs, housing, and health care (45% and 43%, respectively). At that time, a majority (55%) of Democrats, compared to 35% of Republicans, agreed that immigrants strengthen our country. Today, six in ten Americans (60%) say immigrants strengthen the country. Democrats are more than twice as likely as Republicans to express this view (79% vs. 31%). “The widening chasm between Democrats and Republicans on immigration-related attitudes and policies is the new face of the culture wars,” notes PRRI CEO Robert P. Jones. “And these rifts also run through the religious landscape, demarcating white Christian sub-groups, who are far more fearful of immigrants and supportive of restrictive immigration policies, from other religious groups.” Read more from the survey here.

Looking Back at Utah’s Nondiscrimination Bill Five Years Later

In March 2015, Utah passed Senate Bill 296 (or the Antidiscrimination and Religious Freedom Amendments) which added protections for members of the LGBT community as well as members of religious institutions. The bill allowed nondiscrimination protections to be put in place for multiple parties, ensuring a “fairness for all” approach. In Deseret News, Kelsey Dallas looks at the five-year anniversary of the bill, and asks why other states have not adopted similar measures. “Utah’s fairness for all legislation thrust legislators into the national spotlight, where they were met with both praise and disdain. Many observers applauded the state’s approach to religious freedom and LGBTQ rights, while others argued that the new policies would cause more problems than they solved,” she writes. Tim Schultz, president of the 1st Amendment Partnership, explains to Dallas that the country was in a different place in 2015. “We’re a lot more polarized as a country than we were in 2015,” Schultz says. “The right has moved further to the right on this and the left has moved further to the left.” PRRI data shows that 49% of Utahns oppose allowing a small business owner in their state to refuse products or services to gay or lesbian people if providing them would violate their religious beliefs.