30 percent of U.S. 'very afraid' of undocumented immigration
New survey says undocumented people are more immobolizing than heights, hurricanes and artificial intelligence.
Every Halloween, the eerie, Gothic revivalist Eastern State Penitentiary transforms into the money-making scream factory known as "Terror Behind the Walls." Actors dress up as bloodthirsty prisoners running amok the prison. There are lots of flashing lights and sudden noises. It's a site-specific haunted house. You know what you're in for. But if the brand really wants to spice things up this year, maybe they should throw a couple of undocumented persons into the mix.
Because according to latest "fear survey" from Chapman University, illegal immigration scares the bejesus out of nearly one in three U.S. citizens.
Just under 30 percent of survey respondents said they were "afraid" or "very afraid" of people coming into the U.S. without valid paperwork. For these Americans, "illegal" immigration (which is weirdly classified under the "government" fear domain) is more concerning than hurricanes, artificial intelligence, floods, insects, and dying. Yes, dying is palatable compared to sharing a country. Even unemployment and overpopulation and the fear of "whites no longer being the majority," all of which tend to go hand in hand with immigration concerns, were less terrifying. Also, heights. Loneliness. Mass shootings. Police brutality. Ghosts.
None of them are as unnerving as an undocumented person.
Want to guarantee a scary outfit this Halloween? Now you know what to do. Of course, Philadelphians may take it all with a grain of salt. According to the Chapman survey, corrupt public officials were the most terrifying thing of all.
Here are the top 35 fears sorted by how much they terrify us:
Corruption | Government | 58.0 |
Cyber-terrorism | Technology | 44.8 |
Corporate Tracking of Personal Data | Technology | 44.6 |
Terrorist Attack | Man-made Disasters | 44.4 |
Government Tracking of Personal Data | Technology | 41.4 |
Bio-warfare | Man-made Disasters | 40.9 |
Identity Theft | Crime | 39.6 |
Economic Collapse | Man-made Disasters | 39.2 |
Running out of Money | Personal Future | 37.4 |
Credit Card Fraud | Crime | 36.9 |
Gun Control | Government | 36.5 |
War | Man-made Disasters | 35.8 |
Obamacare | Government | 35.7 |
Illness | Personal Future | 34.4 |
Pandemic | Natural Disasters | 34.3 |
Nuclear Attack | Man-made Disasters | 33.6 |
Reptiles | Personal Anxieties | 33.0 |
Meltdown | Man-made Disasters | 32.3 |
Civil Unrest | Man-made Disasters | 32.0 |
Tornado | Natural Disasters | 31.4 |
Global Warming | Environment | 30.7 |
Grid attack | Man-made Disasters | 29.8 |
Illegal Immigration | Government | 29.7 |
Drought | Natural Disasters | 29.4 |
Robots Replacing Workforce | Technology | 28.9 |
Public Speaking | Personal Anxieties | 28.4 |
Property Damage | Natural Disasters | 27.7 |
Heights | Personal Anxieties | 27.4 |
Pollution of rivers and streams | Environment | 26.9 |
Earthquake | Natural Disasters | 26.7 |
Drunk Driver | Crime | 26.5 |
Flood | Natural Disasters | 26.5 |
Hurricane | Natural Disasters | 26.4 |
Trusting Artificial Intelligence to do work | Technology | 25.8 |
You can check out the rest here, or learn more about the methodology used in the survey here.
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