PRRI (Public Religion Research Institute) has just released a study showing that Republicans and Democrats differ markedly when it comes to restricting immigration from non-Christian countries as well as from Mexico and Central America.
Across the board,
Americans’ views are least restrictive with respect to immigration from predominantly Christian (14 percent), European (16 percent), African (24 percent), and Asian (29 percent) countries. In contrast, they are more opposed to immigration coming from the Middle East (45 percent), predominantly Muslim countries (49 percent), and Mexico and Central America (53 percent).
When contrasting Republicans and Democrats, however, the differences are more apparent:
While Republicans and Democrats have similarly restrictive views on immigration from predominantly Christian (15 percent vs. 12 percent, respectively) and European (20 percent vs. 13 percent) countries, they have markedly different views when it comes to other regions. Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to say there are too many immigrants from Africa (34 percent vs. 16 percent), Asia (37 percent vs. 24 percent), the Middle East (68 percent vs. 31 percent), Mexico and Central America (72 percent vs. 39 percent), and predominantly Muslim countries (73 percent vs. 32 percent), or that immigrants from these countries should not be permitted to come to the U.S. at all.