By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON and AMELIA THOMSON-DEVEAUX, Associated Press

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — As President Donald Trump’s administration imposes new restrictions on the legal immigration system, U.S. adults are more likely than they were a year ago to think these immigrants benefit the country, according to a new poll.

The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that Americans are more likely than they were in March 2024 to say it’s a “major benefit” that people who come to the U.S. legally contribute to economic growth and help American companies get the expertise of skilled workers. The survey also shows that Americans are less likely than they were in January to say the number of legal immigrants to the U.S. should be reduced. Slightly fewer than half of Americans say the number should remain the same, a similar percentage from earlier this year.

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At the same time, perceptions of illegal immigration haven’t shifted meaningfully. Americans continue to see fewer benefits from people who come to the U.S. illegally, and they’re more likely to see major risks from these immigrants, including the concern that they’ll commit crimes while in the U.S.

Trump, a Republican, has focused much of his attention on arresting and deporting those in the country illegally, but new screenings, vetting and increased costs are also impacting people who want to come to the U.S. legally to work or study. On Friday, Trump signed a proclamation to overhaul the H-1B visa program, one of the most common pathways for highly skilled foreign workers, requiring now a $100,000 fee for applications. The Trump administration is also subjecting green card applicants to “anti-Americanism” screening, and students applying for visas now need to adhere to social media vetting.

Even Republicans are less likely to say legal immigration should be reduced than they were earlier this year and more likely to say it should remain as is.

Philip Steers, of St. Petersburg, Florida, is a Republican and feels the U.S. makes it too difficult for people to migrate legally. His nephew married a woman from Cambodia, and they have been trying for months to secure a spouse visa.

“If you are pushing all those people who are illegal out, why not make it easier for people who want to come here legally?” said Steers, 76. “We need to speed up the process for those who want to come here to benefit our country.”

Republicans less likely to want to reduce legal immigration

While slightly fewer than half of U.S. adults say the number of legal immigrants should stay as it is, about one-quarter say the number of legal immigrants to the U.S. should be reduced “a lot” or “a little.” That marks a decrease from January, when about one-third said this.

The drop is largely driven by Republicans. About 3 in 10 Republicans now say that legal immigration should be reduced, down from 45% in January.

About 3 in 10 U.S. adults say the number of legal immigrants to the U.S. should be increased “a lot” or “a little,” up slightly from January, when 24% of Americans wanted an increase in legal immigration.

“If you don’t have immigration as a culture, the culture will stagnate. You have to have that balance,” Steers said.

More see benefits from immigrants for economic growth and companies

Americans are more likely to see “major” benefits from people who come to the U.S. legally and less likely to see “major” risks, compared with an AP-NORC poll conducted early last year.

About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say a “major” benefit of immigrants in the country legally is that they contribute to economic growth, which went up from about 4 in 10 in March 2024. Similarly, 51% of U.S. adults say a “major” benefit of legal immigration is that American companies get the expertise of skilled workers in fields like science and technology, compared with 41% in March 2024.

Carlos Gonzalez, who was born in the U.S. to Panamanian parents, said immigrants “provide a lot to the economy of the United States.”

“They bring different ideas that help the economy,” said Gonzalez, 53, a Democrat from Waterbury, Connecticut, adding his mother served as a military nurse in Vietnam. “A lot of people don’t realize that when they do come over here, they try to enrich the country and not take away from it.”

Some of the perceived benefits are economic, but some are cultural, with about 46% saying a “major” benefit of legal immigrants is that they enrich American culture and values, up from 38% in the previous poll.

Shifting views don’t extend to immigrants in the country illegally

Jeff Witoszczak, of El Paso, Texas, identifies as a moderate Republican and supports Trump’s efforts to conduct large-scale deportations of people in the country illegally, saying he does not think the focus needs to be on those who have committed violent crimes. Witoszczak is married to a woman from Mexico who came to the U.S. legally when she was a child.

“Coming here illegally, that’s a crime in and of itself,” Witoszczak said. “They didn’t follow due process coming in. They don’t need due process going out.”

Americans tend to see greater risks — and smaller benefits — from immigrants who are in the country illegally, and these views largely haven’t shifted since last year.

About 4 in 10 U.S. adults now say it’s a major benefit that immigrants in the country illegally will take jobs Americans don’t want, up from about one-third last year. And 42% say that immigrants in the country illegally contribute to economic growth, and 32% believe that they enrich American culture and values. Those findings have remained steady since last year.

About half of U.S. adults say it’s a major risk that immigrants in the country illegally will burden welfare and safety net programs. Studies have shown that immigrants who work in the country illegally pay local, state and federal taxes and generally do not qualify for federal benefits.

The AP-NORC poll of 1,183 adults was conducted Sept. 11-15, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

Shares of Tylenol maker Kenvue bounced back sharply before the opening bell a day after President Donald Trump promoted unproven and in some cases discredited ties between Tylenol, vaccines and autism.

“Don’t take Tylenol,” Trump instructed pregnant women around a dozen times during the White House news conference Monday, also urging mothers not to give their infants the drug, known by the generic name acetaminophen in the U.S. or paracetamol in most other countries.

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Shares of the New Jersey consumer brands company tumbled 7.5% Monday. Shares have regained most of those losses early Tuesday in premarket trading.

The announcement, which appeared to rely on existing studies rather than significant new research, arrives as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a vaccine skeptic, advances the Make America Healthy Again movement that has focused on what it sees as potential causes of autism.

Kenvue disputed any link between the drug and autism this week and warned that if pregnant mothers don’t use Tylenol when in need, they could face a dangerous choice between suffering fevers or using riskier alternatives.

Kenvue was spun off from Johnson & Johnson in 2023. Aside from Tylenol, the consumer health company makes Band-Aids, Listerine and other household brand names.

Citi Investment Research analyst Filippo Falorni wrote that he sees a limited risk of new lawsuits after Trump’s announcement, but thinks “there could be risk to Tylenol consumption given the negative headlines.”

The company has fought hundreds of lawsuits related to the product and its alleged ties to autism, but most have been dismissed.

The analyst anticipates a positive reaction for Kenvue’s stock at the opening bell on Tuesday given the lack of new scientific evidence.

Shares of Kenvue Inc., based in Summit, New Jersey, climbed nearly 5% in premarket trading.

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO warned Russia on Tuesday that it would use all means to defend against any further breaches of its airspace after the downing earlier this month of Russian drones over Poland and Estonia’s report of an intrusion of Russian fighter jets last week.

The Sept. 10 incident in Poland was the first direct encounter between NATO and Moscow since the war in Ukraine began. It jolted leaders across Europe, raising questions about how prepared the alliance is against growing Russian aggression.

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Estonia’s said three Russian fighter jets entered its airspace for 12 minutes on Friday without authorization, a charge that Russia has rejected.

“Russia should be in no doubt: NATO and Allies will employ, in accordance with international law, all necessary military and non-military tools to defend ourselves and deter all threats from all directions,” the alliance said in a statement.

“We will continue to respond in the manner, timing, and domain of our choosing,” the 32-member NATO said, and underlined its commitment to Article 5 of its founding treaty that an attack on any one ally must be considered an attack on them all.

The allies provided no details about what measures they might take.

The statement came after Estonia requested formal consultations under Article 4 of NATO’s treaty that requires a meeting whenever one of the alliance members believes its territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened.

On Monday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that Poland would “without discussion” shoot down flying objects when they violate Polish territory. It’s not entirely clear whether other allies endorse that approach.

By EDWARD ACQUAH and MARK BANCHEREAU, Associated Press

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — Eleven West African nationals deported by the U.S. to Ghana were sent to their home countries over the weekend despite safety concerns, their lawyer told a court in Ghana on Tuesday.

The U.S. had deported a total of 14 West African immigrants to Ghana under controversial circumstances. Although Ghanaian authorities earlier said they have all been sent home, the deportees and their lawyers later told The Associated Press that 11 of them were still at a military facility in Ghana.

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The 11 deportees sued the Ghanaian government last week, seeking their release. Eight of them had told the local court that they had legal protections from being deported to their home countries “due to the risk of torture, persecution or inhumane treatment.”

“We have to inform the court that the persons whose human rights we are seeking to enforce were all deported over the weekend,” their lawyer, Oliver Barker-Vormawo, told the court Tuesday at a virtual hearing, adding that the suit had become irrelevant.

“This is precisely the injury we were trying to prevent,” he said of the safety concerns of the deportees.

The 11 were four Nigerians, three Togolese, two Malians and one each from Gambia and Liberia, according to court documents seen by the AP.

The Trump administration’s deportation program has faced widespread criticism from human rights experts who cite international protections for asylum-seekers and question whether immigrants will be appropriately screened before being deported.

The administration has been seeking ways to deter immigrants from entering the U.S. illegally and remove those who already have done so, especially those accused of crimes and including those who cannot easily be deported to their home countries.

Faced with court decisions that migrants can’t be sent back to their home countries, the Trump administration has increasingly been trying to send them to third countries under agreements with those governments.

Ghana has joined Eswatini, Rwanda and South Sudan as African countries that have received migrants from third countries who were deported from the U.S.

The U.S. Department of Justice had argued in a federal court earlier this month that it had no power to control how another country treats deportees, and that Ghana had pledged to the U.S. it wouldn’t send the deportees back to their home countries.

Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal.