Public Interest in Immigration

Click here for a link to the popularity of the search term "immigration" on Google Trends.

Notice anything? When you take away the sharp peaks, you notice interest in the issue has actually held steady since 2004 when immigration was still considered somewhat of a "non-issue".

The sharp peaks correspond to legislation surrounding the issue being discussed in 2006 and 2007. Notice the sharp drop in interest from the 2006 senate immigration bill that passed to the 2007 senate bill that was supposedly brought down due to an "overwhelming public outrage". According to this, it seems as though Americans got bored and let the extremists control the debate in 2007.