---
title: "Immigration changes draw broad public interest"
description: "President Obama’s executive action on immigration, expanding deportation relief to millions of undocumented immigrants, attracted strong public interest last week."
date: "2014-11-24"
authors:
  - name: "Meredith Dost"
    job_title: "Former Research Assistant"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/meredith-dost/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/11/24/immigration-changes-draw-broad-public-interest/"
categories:
  - "News Coverage"
  - "Unauthorized Immigration"
---

# Immigration changes draw broad public interest

[![FT_news-interest-11-23-14](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2014/11/FT_news-interest-11-23-14.png)](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2014/11/FT_news-interest-11-23-14.png)

President Obama’s executive action on immigration, [expanding deportation relief to millions of undocumented immigrants](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/11/21/how-obamas-executive-action-will-impact-immigrants-by-birth-country/), attracted strong public interest last week.

Overall, 39% of the public say they paid very close attention to news about Obama’s policy allowing certain immigrants living in the U.S. illegally to remain in the country. A third (33%) tracked news about the outbreak of the Ebola virus very closely while about as many (31%) tracked news about the Islamic militant group known as ISIS.

Amid anticipation over a grand jury ruling in the police shooting of an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Mo., 25% say they are following developments in the shooting death of Michael Brown very closely. That is on par with interest in the weeks following Brown’s [death in August](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2014/08/18/stark-racial-divisions-in-reactions-to-ferguson-police-shooting/).

[![FT_news-interest-ferguson](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2014/11/FT_news-interest-ferguson.png)](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2014/11/FT_news-interest-ferguson.png)

News interest in Obama’s new immigration policy is nearly as high among whites (37% following very closely) as among Hispanics (45%) and blacks (44%). There are wider racial differences in interest in other stories, notably Ferguson and Ebola. About four-in-ten blacks (44%) tracked developments in the Michael Brown case very closely compared with 25% of whites. And blacks are much more likely than whites to say they tracked news about Ebola very closely (52% vs. 29%).

[![FT_news-interest-immigration-partisan-split](https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2014/11/FT_news-interest-immigration-partisan-split.png)](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2014/11/FT_news-interest-immigration-partisan-split.png)

There also are partisan differences in interest in several of last week’s stories. Notably, a greater share of Republicans (49%) than Democrats (39%) say they followed news about Obama’s new immigration policy very closely, and Republicans are 14 points more likely than Democrats to follow news about ISIS very closely (44% vs. 30%).

**[See the topline and full survey methodology.](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2014/11/24/11-23-14-news-interest-topline/)**

**Read more:**

[How Obama’s executive action will impact immigrants, by birth country](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/11/21/how-obamas-executive-action-will-impact-immigrants-by-birth-country/)

[Immigrants in Western states most likely to benefit from Obama’s executive action](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/11/21/immigrants-in-western-states-most-likely-to-benefit-from-obamas-executive-action/)

[Executive actions on immigration have long history](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2014/11/21/executive-actions-on-immigration-have-long-history/)