Trump effect: 75 million people refused to immigrate illegally to the United States under new controls

President Donald Trump's staunch defense of borders has caused approximately 75 million foreigners to abandon the hope of immigrating to the United States, according to a new survey just released by Gallup.

The consultancy found that "by 2025, 15% of adults worldwide who express their desire to move permanently to another country mention the U.S. as their preferred destination, the lowest level recorded in nearly two decades of Gallup research.”

The report, entitled “The desire to move permanently to the United States reaches a new low”, has the responses of 144,000 adults from 140 different countries, the sharpest drop being in Central and South America, coincidentally the regions most affected by Trump's defense of borders and that had benefited the most from the negligence of the previous Democratic administration.

The example of Bukele

"Latin America represents seven of the 16 countries around the world where the percentage that names the United States as a preferred destination fell by at least 10 points. In the region, the percentage dropped from 33% in 2024 to 28% in 2025. Other Latin American countries that recorded double-digit declines include neighboring Mexico, where the recent 21% who want to move to the United States equals the previous low of 2017 and 2018. In Honduras, the desire to migrate to the United States fell 35 percentage points, from 71% to 36%, the largest decline in any country during 2025,”

Gallup says.

Another fact that the survey shows is that there is a growing proportion of young people in advanced countries who want to emigrate from countries where governments import a lot of migrants. “The desire for migration in the United States and Canada (20%) and in the European Union (21%) remains close to historic highs,” the report says

.

In El Salvador, on the other hand, the above-mentioned pollster reported that thanks to the reforms of right-wing president Nayib Bukele, the percentage of adults who wish to leave the country fell dramatically in 2025, from levels above 50% in previous years to 25%.