Americans tell pollsters they want to slow immigration-driven growth

Elected officials are at odds with voters.

Americans are tired of the downstream effects of unsustainable population growth, and support reducing immigration to ease congestion, crowding, and development over America’s open spaces. This is true across the nation but one state in particular is waking up to just how out of step its leaders are with the public.

“Coloradans have had enough of newcomers,” DJ Summers reports. “And, according to a recent poll, even those newcomers are sick of newcomers.”

See the full story and video here.

A survey of 1,024 Colorado likely voters demonstrates how Colorado officials are thwarting the will of the state’s residents by encouraging more population growth and development over open spaces and the natural landscape. The poll was commissioned by NumbersUSA for our upcoming study. Summers continues:

Coloradans have several ideas on what they’d like leaders to do to curb more growth, but most support some means of stopping more people from moving in.

“…Whether any of these proposals would fix the problem or cause new, unanticipated ones, the gist is clear: Coloradans want leaders to do whatever they can to keep the past decade from repeating itself.”

Federal immigration policies are the sole long-term source of population growth in the United States, and Coloradans are joined by the majority of Americans in wanting elected officials to slow down or stop the growth.

In “Why Most Coloradans Want People to Stop Moving Here,” Michael Roberts of Westword reports that NumbersUSA emphasizes that any frustration at officials’ failure to rein in the immigration-driven population growth that leads to crowded highways, trailheads, schools, etc. should be aimed at government officials, not migrants from other states or countries. Roberts interviews Eric Ruark, a co-author of the forthcoming study. Excerpt:

Roberts: Is the hope of those behind the Colorado Sprawl website that officials running for office in 2022 respond to the desire of most poll respondents to limit growth in the state?

Ruark: Yes, absolutely! We hope that politicians and candidates in both parties recognize and respond to the bipartisan desire for lower growth.

Roberts: Is there anything else on this subject that you feel is important to add?

Ruark: It’s notable that among voters in Colorado, there’s overwhelming consensus that population growth comes with serious drawbacks, and solid majorities support measures such as discouraging large-scale migration from other states or restricting legal immigration levels. These results are similar to those found in other states and in polling of national voters, and it crosses party and ideological lines.”

JEREMY BECK is a V.P., Deputy Director for NumbersUSA