A short, five to seven minute poll increased the number of respondents who understand that legal immigration is a net negative from 5.7% to 8.7%.
When presented with the fact that almost 9% of the people residing within the US are foreign, 55.2% of white voters, 84.9% of Republicans, 59.5% of Independents, and 18.7% of Democrats said that this number was either too high or much too high.
After learning about Harjinder Singh, the number of all respondents who supported deporting all illegal immigrants increased by 5.8% to 53.7%. Support increased by 4% to 86.1% for Republicans, by 9.1% to 58.1% for Independents, and by 5.7% to 14.2% for Democrats.
The vast majority of respondents at 78.8% including 95.7% of Republicans, 83.8% of Independents, and even 56.5% of Democrats think that the story of Harjinder Singh shows that America’s immigration system is broken.
More respondents agreed with limiting the immigration of ethnic groups with a record of extreme nepotism than disagreed, including Independents.
36.9% of all respondents, 68.5% of Republicans, 38.6% of Independents, and 11% of Democrats said that the number of foreigners where they live is either too high or much too high.
22.1% of respondents agreed with Kevin Deanna’s statement that “all politics is identity politics” and 5.5% strongly agreed with little variation across party lines.
By David Zsutty
On August 12, 2025, a truck driver named Harjinder Singh attempted an illegal U-turn which caused a crash which killed three people in Florida. Singh illegally entered the US in 2018, but was allowed to stay because he claimed to be afraid to return to India. Singh was tested after the fatal crash. He was only able to correctly answer 2 of 12 basic English questions and identify 1 of 4 basic signs.
The story of Harjinder Singh illustrates how Indian migrants are not compatible with American society. The recent influx of Indian immigration to the US is unique because it is a novel immigrant group that can not claim a victim narrative. We conducted a poll to explore how Indian immigration is affecting public opinion along with how it can be used to push back against immigration overall, both legal and illegal.
The Homeland Institute polled 750 respondents who are politically and demographically representative of white, non-Hispanic American registered voters between August 26 and September 2, 2025. The margin of error was plus or minus 3%.
- Baseline Attitudes
We began by repeating a question we have asked before about whether legal and illegal immigration. Only 5.7% of respondents understood that legal immigration is a net negative too. For comparison, this number was 7.4% from our poll from last month. (Small numbers like this can seem to fluctuate dramatically because they are closer to the margin of error.)
| Q.1 Which of the following best describes your opinion on this statement: “Illegal immigrants are a net negative, but legal immigrants are a net positive.” | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Agree | 48.7% | 16.7% | 55.2% | 72.8% |
| Neither agree nor disagree | 13.5% | 17.5% | 13.3% | 9.7% |
| Disagree, illegal immigrants are a net positive too | 27.7% | 59.8% | 22.4% | 2.9% |
| Disagree, legal immigrants are a net negative too | 5.7% | 0.4% | 2.9% | 12.5% |
| I don’t know | 4.4% | 5.7% | 6.2% | 2.2% |
We next presented respondents some data and then explored their attitudes on the number of visa holders, illegal immigrants, and foreigners living in America:
| Q.2 On August 21, 2025, the US State Department announced that it was reviewing more than 55 million valid U.S. visa holders for potential violations that could lead to deportation. Of those 55 million, most are tourist visas. About 14.6 million of the 55 million visas holders reside within the US per the Department of Homeland Security. | ||||
| As of 2025, there are about 341.8 million US citizens. | ||||
| Compared to what you expected the number to be, is the number of visa holders: | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Much higher | 20.4% | 8.5% | 21.0% | 30.1% |
| Higher | 38.9% | 34.6% | 43.3% | 40.5% |
| About the same | 31.6% | 47.2% | 26.7% | 21.9% |
| Lower | 7.5% | 8.1% | 8.1% | 6.1% |
| Much lower | 1.6% | 1.6% | 1.0% | 1.4% |
| Q.3 In your opinion, is the number of visa holders: | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Much too high | 17.1% | 2.0% | 15.2% | 32.3% |
| Too high | 27.9% | 11.8% | 31.0% | 40.5% |
| About right | 38.3% | 63.4% | 36.7% | 17.9% |
| Too low | 4.3% | 6.9% | 4.3% | 1.4% |
| Much too low | 1.1% | 2.8% | 0.0% | 0.4% |
| I don’t know | 11.5% | 13.0% | 12.9% | 7.5% |
| Q.4 Illegal immigrants are inherently difficult to count but the Federation of American Immigration Reform (FAIR) estimates that there were 18.6 million illegal immigrants residing within in the US in 2025. If true, this means that almost 9% of the people within the US are foreign in that they are either illegal immigrants or legal visas holders who reside within the US. | ||||
| In your opinion, is the number of foreign people residing within the US: | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Much too high | 25.6% | 1.2% | 27.6% | 46.2% |
| Too high | 29.6% | 17.5% | 31.9% | 38.7% |
| About right | 32.8% | 61.0% | 29.5% | 10.4% |
| Too low | 4.4% | 8.9% | 3.3% | 1.1% |
| Much too low | 1.3% | 2.8% | 0.5% | 0.7% |
| I don’t know | 6.3% | 8.5% | 7.1% | 2.9% |
Republicans and Independents generally thought the true number of visa holders was higher or much higher than they expected, even when they were given the overall population of the US for comparison. 72.8% of Republicans, 46.2% of Independents, and even 13.8% of Democrats thought the number of visa holders was too high.
We combined the number of visa holders officially residing within the US combined with the number of illegal immigrants estimated by FAIR to be residing within the US to estimate that almost 9% of the people within the US are foreigners.
When presented with the fact that almost 9% of the people residing within the US are foreign, 55.2% of white voters, 84.9% of Republicans, 59.5% of Independents, and 18.7% of Democrats said that this number was either too high or much too high.
We next measured respondents’ support for various solutions to the high number of foreigners residing with the US such as reviewing visa holders for deportable violations, ending all or almost all visas except for the O Visa, and deporting all illegal immigrants without exception:
| Q.5 Which of the following best describes your opinion on the US State Department reviewing the 55 million visas holders for potential violations that could lead to deportation? | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Strongly support | 41.2% | 3.7% | 37.6% | 78.1% |
| Slightly support | 16.5% | 11.8% | 23.8% | 15.4% |
| Neither support nor oppose | 8.0% | 11.4% | 9.0% | 3.6% |
| Slightly oppose | 12.8% | 24.0% | 13.3% | 2.5% |
| Strongly oppose | 20.7% | 47.6% | 15.7% | 0.4% |
| I don’t know | 0.8% | 1.6% | 0.5% | 0.0% |
| Q.6 The O Visa is a non-immigrant visa category in the United States designed for individuals with extraordinary ability or achievement in fields such as science, art, education, business, athletics, or the motion picture industry. O Visa applicants must demonstrate sustained national or international acclaim, typically through evidence like awards, media coverage, or significant contributions to their field. | ||||
| Which of the following best describes your opinion on allowing all or almost all visas aside from O-Visas to expire? | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Strongly support | 14.7% | 4.9% | 15.2% | 23.3% |
| Slightly support | 18.5% | 10.6% | 19.5% | 25.4% |
| Neither support nor oppose | 21.3% | 13.8% | 21.9% | 27.2% |
| Slightly oppose | 14.1% | 15.0% | 14.8% | 13.3% |
| Strongly oppose | 27.6% | 52.4% | 25.2% | 6.8% |
| I don’t know | 3.7% | 3.3% | 3.3% | 3.9% |
| Q.7 Which of the following best describes your opinion on deporting all illegal immigrants without exception? | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Strongly support | 30.0% | 2.0% | 31.4% | 54.1% |
| Slightly support | 17.9% | 6.5% | 17.6% | 28.0% |
| Neither support nor oppose | 3.9% | 4.1% | 4.3% | 3.2% |
| Slightly oppose | 11.1% | 9.3% | 13.8% | 10.8% |
| Strongly oppose | 36.4% | 76.4% | 32.4% | 3.6% |
| I don’t know | 0.8% | 1.6% | 0.5% | 0.4% |
2. Attitudes After Harjinder Singh
We then introduced respondents to the facts surrounding Harjinder Singh, specifically that:
On August 12, 2025, a truck driver named Harjinder Singh attempted an illegal U-turn which caused a crash which killed three people in Florida. Singh illegally entered the US in 2018, but was allowed to stay because he claimed to be afraid to return to India.
California is one of 18 US states and the District of Columbia which currently offer driver’s licenses to people regardless of their immigration status, and granted Singh a personal driver’s license. Because the federal government granted him work authorization in 2021, California allowed him to transform his personal driver’s license into a commercial driver’s license (CDL).
Singh was tested after the fatal crash. He was only able to correctly answer 2 of 12 basic English questions and identify 1 of 4 basic signs.
The “Collective Punjabi Youth” launched a petition arguing for leniency for Singh on Change.org which garnered over 2.5 million signatures.
We then asked respondents their opinion about mostly limiting visas to O-Visas and deporting all illegal immigrants.
| Q.8 After learning about Harjinder Singh, what is your opinion on allowing all or almost all visas aside from O-Visas to expire? | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Strongly support | 29.2% | 5.7% | 28.6% | 51.3% |
| Slightly support | 16.5% | 8.1% | 19.5% | 21.9% |
| Neither support nor oppose | 12.8% | 16.7% | 11.4% | 10.4% |
| Slightly oppose | 15.2% | 16.7% | 19.0% | 11.5% |
| Strongly oppose | 23.7% | 49.6% | 18.6% | 3.6% |
| I don’t know | 2.5% | 3.3% | 2.9% | 1.4% |
| Q.9 After learning about Harjinder Singh, which of the following best describes your opinion on deporting all illegal immigrants? | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Strongly support | 39.7% | 6.5% | 38.6% | 71.0% |
| Slightly support | 14.0% | 7.7% | 19.5% | 15.1% |
| Neither support nor oppose | 5.3% | 7.7% | 4.8% | 3.6% |
| Slightly oppose | 11.5% | 15.4% | 11.0% | 8.2% |
| Strongly oppose | 28.4% | 60.6% | 25.2% | 1.8% |
| I don’t know | 1.1% | 2.0% | 1.0% | 0.4% |
After learning about Harjinder Singh, the number of all respondents who supported allowing all or almost all non-O-Visas to expire increased by 12.5% to 45.7%. Support increased by 24.5% to 73.2% for Republicans, by 13.4% to 48.1% for Independents. While strong opposition dropped among Democrats, overall opposition actually increased by 1.7% among Democrats. This suggests that some Democrats may see migrant crime as a test of faith they dare not fail.
After learning about Harjinder Singh, the number of all respondents who supported deporting all illegal immigrants increased by 5.8% to 53.7%. Support increased by 4% to 86.1% for Republicans, by 9.1% to 58.1% for Independents, and by 5.7% to 14.2% for Democrats.
This shows that even a short, factual anecdote about migrant crime (such as the anecdotes in Ann Coulter’s book Adios America) can change public opinion.
The vast majority of respondents at 78.8% including 95.7% of Republicans, 83.8% of Independents, and even 56.5% of Democrats think that the story of Harjinder Singh shows that America’s immigration system is broken or very broken:
| Q.10 Do you think that the story of Harjinder Singh shows that America’s immigration system is: | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Very functional | 0.5% | 0.0% | 1.0% | 0.4% |
| Functional | 8.9% | 18.7% | 6.7% | 2.2% |
| Broken | 35.3% | 42.3% | 41.4% | 24.4% |
| Very broken | 43.5% | 14.2% | 42.4% | 71.3% |
| I don’t know | 11.7% | 24.8% | 8.6% | 1.8% |
3. Ethnic Nepotism
Our poll then flowed into asking respondents about the clash of nepotism with race-blind meritocracy. (While one could question whether a race-blind meritocracy is either possible or desirable, we nonetheless used the term because it would be familiar with voters.)
| Q.11 The North American Punjabi Trucking Association (NAPTA) and other sources from 2018-2022 suggest Punjabi Sikhs make up about 20% of the US trucking workforce. Do you think that about 20% of US truckers likely being Sikhs from the Punjab province of India is evidence of: | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Meritocracy | 11.6% | 14.6% | 5.7% | 12.5% |
| An ethnic mafia | 19.1% | 4.5% | 21.4% | 30.5% |
| Other/No opinion | 69.3% | 80.9% | 72.9% | 57.0% |
| Q.12 Which of the following best describes your opinion on this statement: | ||||
| “A race-blind meritocracy is not possible when some groups give preferences to their own members.” | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Strongly agree | 30.3% | 18.7% | 29.5% | 33.7% |
| Slightly agree | 36.2% | 35.4% | 34.8% | 30.1% |
| Neutral | 19.6% | 22.0% | 16.7% | 14.7% |
| Slightly disagree | 9.7% | 10.6% | 7.1% | 8.2% |
| Strongly disagree | 4.1% | 4.1% | 1.9% | 4.3% |
| I don’t know | 10.5% | 9.3% | 10.0% | 9.0% |
| Q.13 Which of the following best describes your opinion on this statement: | ||||
| “To protect color-blind meritocracy we should limit the immigration of ethnic groups with a record of extreme nepotism.” | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Strongly agree | 18.8% | 3.7% | 17.1% | 34.4% |
| Slightly agree | 19.1% | 17.1% | 19.0% | 20.4% |
| Neutral | 22.4% | 21.5% | 25.2% | 21.9% |
| Slightly disagree | 13.1% | 17.9% | 12.9% | 9.0% |
| Strongly disagree | 16.0% | 30.5% | 14.3% | 3.6% |
| I don’t know | 10.7% | 9.3% | 11.4% | 10.8% |
Even few Republicans were willing to label the fact that Punjabi Sikhs make up about 20% of truck drivers an ethnic mafia. This shows the that the general public is rather naïve about the reality of identity politics.
And while about two thirds of respondents and even a slim majority of Democrats agreed in theory that a race-blind meritocracy is not possible when some groups give preferences to their own members, substantially fewer were willing to follow through with the solution of limiting the immigration of ethnic groups with a record of extreme nepotism.
Nonetheless, the 37.9% of respondents who agreed with limiting the immigration of ethnic groups with a record of extreme nepotism still outnumbered the 29.1% who disagreed. More Independents at 36.1% agreed than those who disagreed at 27.2%.
4. The Impact of Immigration
The next section explored the impact of immigration.
| Q.14 Which of the following best describes your opinion of this statement: | ||||
| “The large number of foreigners both legal and illegal residing within the US is driving up housing prices for the native born.” | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Strongly agree | 25.1% | 3.3% | 26.7% | 44.1% |
| Slightly agree | 21.6% | 13.0% | 21.4% | 29.7% |
| Neutral | 9.1% | 6.1% | 10.0% | 10.8% |
| Slightly disagree | 14.5% | 20.3% | 17.6% | 7.5% |
| Strongly disagree | 26.0% | 54.5% | 20.5% | 4.3% |
| I don’t know | 3.7% | 2.8% | 3.8% | 3.6% |
| Q.15 Which of the following best describes your opinion of this statement: | ||||
| “The large number of foreigners both legal and illegal residing within the US is reducing wages and workplace conditions for the native born.” | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Strongly agree | 25.2% | 2.4% | 27.1% | 44.8% |
| Slightly agree | 21.9% | 10.2% | 24.3% | 30.8% |
| Neutral | 9.3% | 8.9% | 10.5% | 9.0% |
| Slightly disagree | 13.3% | 15.4% | 14.3% | 10.8% |
| Strongly disagree | 28.3% | 61.4% | 21.4% | 3.2% |
| I don’t know | 2.0% | 1.6% | 2.4% | 1.4% |
| Q.16 Which of the following best describes your opinion of this statement: | ||||
| “The large number of foreign students attending college in the US is reducing educational and career opportunities for the native born.” | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Strongly agree | 23.2% | 3.7% | 21.4% | 42.3% |
| Slightly agree | 20.1% | 6.1% | 23.3% | 29.7% |
| Neutral | 7.7% | 6.1% | 8.6% | 8.6% |
| Slightly disagree | 16.0% | 18.7% | 19.5% | 11.5% |
| Strongly disagree | 31.3% | 65.4% | 24.8% | 5.7% |
| I don’t know | 1.6% | 0.0% | 2.4% | 2.2% |
The 46.7% of respondents who agreed that the large number of foreigners both legal and illegal residing within the US is driving up housing prices outnumbered the 40.5% of those who disagreed. The 47.1% of respondents who agreed that the large number of foreigners both legal and illegal residing within the US is reducing wages and workplace conditions for the native born outnumbered the 41.6% who disagreed. However, the 47.3% disagreed that foreign students are reducing educational and career opportunities for the native born outnumbered the 43.3% who agreed.
We next explored the effects of immigration on respondents’ personal lives:
| Q.17 Based on your personal experience over the past 4 to 5 years, has the number of foreign people where you live: | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Greatly increased | 17.1% | 3.7% | 19.0% | 28.0% |
| Increased | 36.7% | 26.0% | 36.2% | 46.6% |
| Stayed about the same | 45.6% | 69.9% | 43.3% | 25.1% |
| Decreased | 0.5% | 0.4% | 1.0% | 0.4% |
| Greatly decreased | 0.1% | 0.0% | 0.5% | 0.0% |
| Q.18 In your opinion, is the number of foreigners where you live: | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Much too high | 12.9% | 1.8% | 16.3% | 23.5% |
| Too high | 24.0% | 9.2% | 22.3% | 45.0% |
| About right | 45.5% | 71.1% | 54.3% | 30.8% |
| Too low | 5.6% | 13.3% | 6.0% | 0.8% |
| Much too low | 1.7% | 4.6% | 1.1% | 0.0% |
| No opinion | 10.3% | 12.8% | 14.1% | 7.3% |
| Q.19 Which of the following best describes what effect immigration has had on your personal life: | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| A major net positive | 6.4% | 13.6% | 4.9% | 1.5% |
| A net positive | 16.7% | 31.8% | 16.3% | 4.4% |
| Neutral | 48.5% | 49.6% | 50.7% | 49.4% |
| A net negative | 17.5% | 3.3% | 19.2% | 30.3% |
| A major net negative | 8.3% | 1.7% | 8.9% | 14.4% |
| I don’t know | 2.7% | 1.7% | 3.4% | 3.0% |
Over half of all respondents noticed an increase of foreign people where they live over the past 4-5 years which coincided with the Biden administration. That party affiliated correlated with noticing more foreign people may perhaps be driven by sensitivity to foreigners or a preference for diversity due to how there was almost no difference in how urban, suburban, and rural respondents answered this question.
36.9% of all respondents, 68.5% of Republicans, 38.6% of Independents, and 11% of Democrats said that the number of foreigners where they live is either too high or much too high.
When it came to the effect of immigration on their personal life, about half of respondents answered “neutral” across party lines. However, more respondents said that immigration has had a net negative impact on their personal life at 25.8% than a positive one at 21.1%. More Independents at 28.1% said that immigration has had a negative impact on their personal life than those who said it has had a positive effect at 21.2%. Almost no Republicans said immigration has had a positive effect on their personal life, and almost no Democrats a negative effect.
5. Identity Politics
Kevin Deanna who has written under several pen names popularized the phrase “all politics is identity politics.” 22.1% of respondents agree with this statement and 5.5% strongly agreed with little variation across party lines:
| Q.20 Which of the following best describes your opinion of this statement: | ||||
| “All politics is identity politics.” | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Strongly agree | 5.5% | 4.5% | 6.2% | 5.4% |
| Slightly agree | 22.1% | 24.0% | 20.5% | 22.2% |
| Neutral | 20.4% | 17.1% | 16.7% | 26.2% |
| Slightly disagree | 23.2% | 26.4% | 22.4% | 20.4% |
| Strongly disagree | 18.3% | 15.9% | 23.8% | 16.5% |
| I don’t know | 10.5% | 12.2% | 10.5% | 9.3% |
Finally, we measured if respondent’s answers to the first question had changed since the start of the poll:
| Q.21 After taking this poll, which of the following best describes your opinion on this statement: | ||||
| “Illegal immigrants are a net negative, but legal immigrants are a net positive.” | ||||
| Results by Party | ||||
| % All | Democrats | Independents | Republicans | |
| Agree | 45.2% | 17.1% | 53.3% | 64.9% |
| Neither agree nor disagree | 12.1% | 14.2% | 11.0% | 10.8% |
| Disagree, illegal immigrants are a net positive too | 28.1% | 61.0% | 22.4% | 2.9% |
| Disagree, legal immigrants are a net negative too | 8.7% | 2.4% | 5.7% | 16.5% |
| I don’t know | 5.9% | 5.3% | 7.6% | 5.0% |
The number of respondents who understand that legal immigrants are a net negative too rose from 5.7% to 8.7%. While only a 3% percentile increase, it was still over a 50% increase in the total number. This shows that hegemonic ideas such as “so long as they replace us legally” are not invincible if even a short, five to seven minute poll can undermine them.
On one hand, this shows that the general public desperately needs to be educated on how legal immigration can be just as bad or even worse than illegal immigration. But on the other hand, it also shows that such education will be effective.
6. Conclusion
- A short, five to seven minute poll increased the number of respondents who understand that legal immigration is a net negative from 5.7% to 8.7%.
- Attitudes towards immigration differ heavily across party lines. A supermajority of Democrats are in denial, perhaps willfully, of how the iron law of supply and demand is not suspended for immigration.
- When presented with the fact that almost 9% of the people residing within the US are foreign, 55.2% of white voters, 84.9% of Republicans, 59.5% of Independents, and 18.7% of Democrats said that this number was either too high or much too high.
- After learning about Harjinder Singh, the number of all respondents who supported deporting all illegal immigrants increased by 5.8% to 53.7%. Support increased by 4% to 86.1% for Republicans, by 9.1% to 58.1% for Independents, and by 5.7% to 14.2% for Democrats.
- The vast majority of respondents including even a majority of Democrats think that the story of Harjinder Singh shows that America’s immigration system is broken.
- More respondents agreed with limiting the immigration of ethnic groups with a record of extreme nepotism than disagreed, including Independents.
- 9% of all respondents, 68.5% of Republicans, 38.6% of Independents, and 11% of Democrats said that the number of foreigners where they live is either too high or much too high.
- More respondents agree than disagree that large numbers of foreigners residing within America are increasing the cost of housing while decreasing wages. However, more respondents disagree than agree that foreign students are depriving native students of educational and career opportunities.
- About half of respondents answered that immigration has had a neutral effect on their personal life across party lines. However, slightly more respondents said that immigration has had a net negative impact on their personal life than a positive one.
- 1% of respondents agreed with Kevin Deanna’s statement that “all politics is identity politics” and 5.5% strongly agreed with little variation across party lines.