A recently released Gallup poll revealed some interesting results in terms of immigration policies in America. A significant majority of Americans say that they view immigration as good for the country, but only a small minority wish to see an increase in U.S. immigration levels.

Gallup shared these findings in a report published Wednesday Aug. 24, titled "In U.S., Support for Decreasing Immigration Holds Steady." Noting recent controversy regarding immigration reform policies as presidential candidates gear up for the 2016 election, the organization noted a common trend in terms of immigration policy preferences.

Statistics taken from the survey show that, as seen regularly from prior annual tracking polls on the subject, a steady level of Americans (almost 40 percent) say that they would like to see immigration levels decreased. An equal percentage reportedly reveal that they feel immigration levels should be maintained as they are currently.

"The relatively small percentage of Americans who want immigration increased, however, has edged down this year to 21 percent," said Gallup's Frank Newport.

The Gallup findings also show that since 2012, the American population overall seems quite split on the matter of maintaining current levels of immigration and in decreasing those levels. Before 2012, however, and markedly seen in the years prior to 9/11, the American majority was "more in favor" of decreased immigration in the country.

A majority trend revealed in Wednesday's report shows that partisanship seems to be the main dividing factor in terms of attitude toward immigration.

As pointed out in the findings from this year's poll, American perspectives on changes in terms of increasing or decreasing immigration levels seem to vary significantly among very different subgroups.

Among those who participated in the survey, Gallup found that Republicans and conservatives tend to report wanting to see a decrease in immigration (60 and 58 percent, respectively). Meanwhile, only about 20 percent of those that identify themselves as Democrats or liberals believe that decreased immigration levels would be favorable for America.

Another interesting, though perhaps contrasting finding from this survey showed that a large majority of Americans (72 percent of those polled) say that they believe immigration is a "good thing for this country today." Gallup points out in its report that this percentage level is among the highest recorded since circa 2001 when it comes to this specific sentiment (except for in 2013 and 2015 where the results were essentially the same as today). 

Gallup's overall survey summation in terms of immigration perspectives in 2016 is as follows:

"While most Americans believe immigration is a good thing for the country, a relatively small percentage would like to see the nation's level of immigration increased, while the rest want it either to remain the same or to decrease," Newport said.

In terms of survey methods, results for this poll were based on telephone interviews that took place between June 7, 2016 and July 1, 2016. The population sample included 3,270 adults over 18 years of age and residing in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia.

All respondents had previously been interviewed in Gallup tracking polls and had agreed to participate in followup surveys. The sample is reported as "weighted to be representative of U.S. adults." And finally, the margin of sampling error is noted at plus or minus three percentage points, with a 95 percent confidence level.