Immigration near the top of public concerns

WASHINGTON (AP) -- People are now about as likely to mention immigration as the economy when they are asked to name the most important problem facing the United States, though both rank behind war in Iraq and elsewhere, an AP-Ipsos poll found.
Immigration's rise in the latest survey about the nation's top problems suggests the public is keeping close watch on the immigration debate in Congress and reaction around the country.
"Nobody is happy about the war, but the war is far away -- the immigration issue is right here," said Dagmar Washington, a nurse from the Atlanta suburbs.
Efforts in the Senate to pass sweeping immigration legislation faltered Friday, leaving in doubt the prospects for passage of a measure that offered the hope of citizenship to millions of men, women and children living in the United States illegally.
The rise in public concern about immigration over the last three months has been substantial.
When people were asked this past week to name the top national problem that came to mind, 13 percent said immigration -- four times the number who said that in January. Roughly the same number, 14 percent of those polled, named the economy, according to the poll of 500 adults conducted April 3-5.
The survey has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.