Source: The Volokh Conspiracy
by Ilya Somin
“Widespread political ignorance is a serious problem that both major-party presidential candidates are trying to exploit. A recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation finds extensive ignorance on the key issue of immigration. The study finds large numbers of people believe misinformation about immigration, while rejecting true statements about it. For example, 51% believe it is ‘definitely true’ or ‘probably true’ that ‘Immigrants are causing an increase in violent crime in the U.S’ (48% say this is definitely or probably false). In reality, immigrants, including undocumented immigrants, have much lower violent crime rates than native-born citizens. … Overall, public ignorance about immigration likely increases restrictionist sentiment. If many people realized that immigrants have low crime rates, pay more into the public fisc than they take out, and do not increase unemployment, public opinion would likely shift in a more pro-immigration direction.” (09/25/24)
https://reason.com/volokh/2024/09/25/public-ignorance-and-misinformation-about-immigration/