Latest polls show Trump’s popularity eroding due to the aggressiveness of his immigration policy
Rejection is greatest among the Latino community, which has been hardest hit by deportations. Democrats aren’t benefiting from the disappointment of voters, who still trust Republicans more to handle immigration
If his promised immigration policy was one of the reasons that led Donald Trump to victory in the November 2024 presidential election, it is also one of the reasons that has now led to his decline in popularity. The latest published polls show that the way in which immigration raids, arrests, and deportations are being carried out have weighed on the Republican’s support.
“The public has become disillusioned with Trump’s mass deportation plan. Americans are seeing how he attacks immigrants in an indiscriminate and overly aggressive manner,” says Nick Gourevitch, president of research and insights at Global Strategy Group and responsible for one of the latest polls on the president’s popularity. According to the survey, conducted for Navigator, 50% of citizens disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration, compared to 47% who approve.
Gourevitch made the remarks at a press conference on Thursday, during which several migrant advocacy organizations cited recent polls to show public rejection of Trump’s immigration policy.
In several polls published in July, the Republican’s performance is even worse. The Gallup poll shows that 62% of the population disapproves of the current administration’s immigration policies; the CNN poll shows a disapproval of 58%, and the CBS network, 56%.
Trump promised to expel the most dangerous criminals from the country, but detention centers have filled with migrants with no criminal record. The excessive violence used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during arrests, which have seen the use of force against defenseless workers or against parents attending immigration court with their children, have led to dramatic scenes that have taken their toll on the president.
Among Latinos, as one of the communities most affected by detentions, the impact has been greater. Nearly one in five Latinos (19%) knows someone who has been detained by ICE, double the 9% rate across the entire electorate. According to the Navigator survey, 56% of Hispanics reject Trump’s policies.
Concern about ICE raids is high, especially among Americans of color: 40% of all respondents say they are “very concerned” about Trump’s immigration raids, but this concern is closely tied to racial identity. While 46% of Black and Hispanic Americans are “very concerned,” only 37% of whites feel the same.
“Fair, firm, and without cruelty: that is the message from Hispanic voters on immigration. For too long, some have tried to portray aid and enforcement as conflicting goals, and the result has been a further deterioration of our immigration system. Latino voters understand that these are intertwined threads necessary for order at the border and beyond. But what they are experiencing is abuse of power, chaos, and intimidation, with grave human and economic consequences,” said Clarissa Martínez De Castro, vice president of the Latino Vote Initiative at UnidosUS.
Public perceptions of deportations have shifted since Trump returned to the White House. His rhetoric about expelling criminals resonated deeply with voters, but the reality of how it is being implemented, such as the expulsions of Venezuelans to El Salvador accused of belonging to the Tren de Aragua criminal gang without evidence, has shifted the balance. Before his inauguration, support for the proposed deportation plan was 51%, and opposition was 41%. Now, only 45% support it, while 49% oppose it.
The decline in support for Trump, however, does not imply greater confidence in the Democrats. A majority of respondents (49%) believe the president and the Republicans handle immigration policy better than the Democratic Party, which only has 41% support.
“The United States is unhappy with Trump’s handling of immigration, but Democrats cannot seize this opportunity until they restore voters’ trust that they can be counted on to handle the issue responsibly. To do so, they must stand firmly on behalf of public safety while highlighting how Trump’s chaos is making our communities less safe,” said Anae Erickson, vice president of social policy, education, and politics at the national Third Way think tank.
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