Americans now more likely to call illegal immigration a 'very big problem' than coronavirus as concerns surge over border crisis

The ongoing crisis at the United States' southern border has been making headlines — even in left-wing papers and on liberal cable networks — and with the surge in illegal immigration has come an increasing concern among Americans about how big the problem at the border really is.

In fact, worry over the scope of the illegal immigration issues has grown among Americans to the point that it has overtaken the coronavirus on the "very big problem" scale, according to Pew Research.

What's this now?

Immigrants began surging toward and across the U.S.-Mexico border following President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory. The crisis has seen record numbers of illegal aliens being detained, thousands of children thrown in cage-like facilities, and families separated.

Not only that, communities are reportedly being forced to take and care for immigrants — even if those communities don't have the resources or infrastructure to properly care for them.

Also, the federal government stands accused of not properly testing illegal aliens for COVID-19 and not informing communities that are being strong-armed into housing them about their health status.

The massive rush of immigrants coupled with the Biden administration's mangled messaging and response to the crisis has led to a significant jump in the share of Americans who consider illegal immigration a "very big problem," Pew revealed Thursday.

In June 2020, the No. 1 "very big problem" issue among adults polled by Pew was naturally the coronavirus outbreak, with nearly 6-in-10 respondents (58%) agreeing.

At the same time, just 28% of Americans called illegal immigration a "very big problem."

Since then, the share of adults saying the same of the coronavirus has dropped 11 points to 47%, and illegal immigration has jumped 20 points to 48%.

And the growth in concern has not been limited to just one political party. While Republicans' level of concern about illegal immigration unsurprisingly has increased significantly, the Democrats' concern has nearly doubled. From Pew:

While views of most national problems are divided along partisan lines, including illegal immigration, increasing shares of both Republicans and Democrats rate illegal immigration as a very big problem. Nearly three-quarters of Republicans (72%) say illegal immigration is a major problem, up 29 points since last June. The share of Democrats who say this is a major problem is now 29%, compared with 15% nearly a year ago.

The recent jump in concern over illegal immigration has pushed the issue to a tie with violent crime for the No. 3 spot on the list of issues Americans see as a "very big problem," following only health care affordability (56%) and the federal deficit (49%).