Some 43 percent think migrants are taking jobs from native Italians, according to the IPSOS poll, conducted in conjunction with the Jewish Contemporary Documentation Centre, the CDEC.
The majority of those surveyed said they viewed immigration as an “attack” while 57 percent thought Italy needed “a strong leader to defend the Italian people”.
IPSOS chief Nando Pagnoncelli said immigration was seen by Italians as an attack on their country by most of those interviewed.
Pope Francis continued his drive for migrants and refugees to be welcomed with “open arms” during a visit to the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna on Sunday, where he visited the cities of Cesena and Bologna.
In Bologna the Argentine pontiff met some thousand people staying at a reception centre for asylum seekers, Italian news agency ANSA reported. “In you, as in every stranger who knocks at our door, I see Jesus Christ, who identifies himself with the stranger of every age and condition, accepted or rejected,” the pope said.
“I want to carry with me your faces that are asking to be remembered, helped, I’d say ‘adopted’, because in the end you look out for someone who bets on you, gives you confidence and helps you find that future for which you have hoped and arrived here.”
Calling the migrants “fighters of hope,” he encouraged the migrants to stay in Italy.