Immigration consistently shows up as the most important problem facing the U.S. in national public opinion polls, but less information has been available to understand how Michiganders view immigration.

With Michigan poised to be one of the most influential states in the November presidential election, the Detroit Metro Area Communities Study and Michigan Metro Area Communities Study at the University of Michigan surveyed residents across the state about their attitudes toward immigration.

Overall, residents in Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids and Ypsilanti were divided on legal immigration. Across the four metro areas:

• 39% of residents said it should be easier for foreigners to legally immigrate to the U.S.
• 16% said immigration policies should remain the same,
• 26% said it should be harder for foreigners to legally immigrate to the U.S.
• 19% were not sure

Ypsilanti residents (45%) and Grand Rapids residents (44%) were more likely than residents of Detroit (37%) and Flint (29%) to favor making legal immigration easier. On the other end of the spectrum, 31% of Flint residents, 29% of Ypsilanti residents, 26% of Detroit residents and 23% of Grand Rapids residents said it should be more difficult for foreigners to immigrate to the U.S. legally.

“The entire state of Michigan is considered a border zone because of its proximity to Canada, and immigration is a factor in how elected officials and community leaders have sought to reinvigorate local economies. Understanding how Michiganders think about immigration can inform policy discussions going forward,” said Yucheng Fan, data manager at the Detroit Metro Area Communities Study.

A new brief, “How Michiganders are Thinking about Immigration,” examines trends in attitudes about immigration based on people’s educational attainment and their proximity to foreign-born residents. The work was supported by the Knight Foundation, Ballmer Group, Kresge Foundation, U-M’s Poverty Solutions and Michigan CEAL.

Overall, 55% of residents with a bachelor’s degree living in Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids and Ypsilanti supported making it easier for foreigners to immigrate to the U.S. legally, compared to only 34% of residents of these cities who did not have a bachelor’s degree. Residents who did not have a bachelor’s degree (29%) were more likely than residents with a bachelor’s degree (18%) to believe it should be harder for foreigners to immigrate to the U.S. legally.

However, residents of these cities without a bachelor’s degree (21%) were also more likely than residents with a bachelor’s degree (12%) to say that they were not sure of their views on U.S. immigration policy. Residents with and without a college degree were equally as likely to say immigration policy should remain the same.

“The surveys also found U.S.-born residents living in neighborhoods with more immigrants tend to have more favorable attitudes toward immigration. This is consistent with past research, and it shows that people who likely have more sustained contact with immigrants have a more positive view of immigration,” said Mara Ostfeld, a faculty lead at the Detroit Metro Area Communities Study.

On average, for every 10 percentage-point increase in the share of a census tract’s population that is foreign-born, there is a roughly three percentage-point increase in the degree to which U.S.-born residents support making it easier for immigrants to enter the country legally.