U.S. Public Opinion on Immigration and the North American Free Trade Agreement

Public opinion is a vital, dynamic force in supporting progress for international policies, institutions, and organizations, making it important to assess foreign policy issues from a public opinion perspective. In this chapter, we examine the attitudes that the American public has toward the political and economic effects of U.S.-Mexican relations following the passage of NAFTA. Recent public opinion polls suggest that most Americans hold generally positive views regarding immigration. According to a Gallup poll conducted in June 2008, 64 percent of Americans think that immigration is good for the United States. This number is a slight increase from the 60