Washington, DC — A range of polling released this week aligns with the America’s Voice assessment that we are in the midst of a “galvanizing moment” on immigration, with a majority of Americans rejecting key components of this administration’s mass deportation crusade.
According to Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
“The backlash is building and impossible to ignore. Americans are rejecting the violence and militarization on display in Minneapolis, as well as the broader mass deportation agenda. Most Americans, including a majority of independent voters, are rejecting Trump’s militarization of our communities and recognizing that the mass deportation campaign is making us less safe and has gone too far. This has created the opportunity to lay out a different vision on immigration – one that upholds our values and interests and works to keep our communities safe.”
Below are three key points pulled from polling released this week from CNN, YouGov/Economist, Navigator Research, Quinnipiac, and AP/NORC.
Point 1: Mass deportation crusade and ICE have “gone too far”
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- Navigator Research: 59% of Americans think ICE actions over the past year have been “too aggressive,” vs. 24% who said “ICE has struck the right balance” and 12% who said “ICE has not been aggressive enough.”
- Among Independents, 60% said ICE has been “overly aggressive” over the past year, vs. 17% who said “right balance” and 12% who said “not aggressive enough”
- CNN found that by a 52-31% margin, a majority believes Trump immigration actions “deporting immigrants living in the United States illegally” have “gone too far” vs. “been about right” (additional 16% say “not gone far enough”)
- 57% of Independents say “gone to far” vs. 29% “been about right” and 14% “not far enough”
- AP/NORC: 51% think Trump has “gone too far” in “deporting immigrants living in the United States illegally” vs. 30% who said “about right” and 18% “not far enough.”
- Quinnipiac: By a 57-40% margin, Americans disapprove of the way ICE is “enforcing immigration laws.” Independent respondents disapprove by a 64-33% margin.
- Navigator Research: 59% of Americans think ICE actions over the past year have been “too aggressive,” vs. 24% who said “ICE has struck the right balance” and 12% who said “ICE has not been aggressive enough.”
- The latest polling matches late 2025 polling, including in the statewide media exit polls from the off-year elections, in finding a majority of Americans think mass deportation has “gone too far.”
Point 2: Mass deportation crusade and ICE actions are making us “less safe”
- CNN found that by a 51-31% margin, Americans believe “ICE enforcement actions” are making cities “less safe” rather than safer
- CNN also found that by a 47-37% margin, Americans are more concerned that “government will “go too far in cracking down on protests” about deportation policies than are concerned the “protests will get out of control”
- YouGov/Economist polling found by a 47-34% margin, Americans think ICE is making us “less safe” rather than “more safe.”
- Independents thought “less safe” by a 50-24% margin
- By 56-32% margin, Americans believe that ICE officers shouldn’t be allowed to wear masks that hide their identities during arrests
Point 3: Trump’s immigration approval and ICE are growing more unpopular
- CNN: 58-42% disapproval of Trump on immigration (66-34% disapproval among Independents)
- AP/NORC: 61-38% disapproval of Trump on immigration
- Navigator Research: By a 57-37% margin, Americans view ICE unfavorably, including by a 62-28% margin among Independents
Also read the new Axios article highlighting internal Republican polling from before the killing of Renee Nicole Good that “bolstered internal concern about the administration’s confrontational enforcement tactics.”
Taking stock of the latest findings and implications, polling analyst G. Elliott Morris wrote:
“With his harsh enforcement tactics, Trump has handed Democrats an opportunity to completely redefine immigration as an issue. His expansion of ICE’s budget powers — and the visceral images of abuse that followed — has changed what ‘immigration enforcement’ means in voters’ minds. The new picture favors Democrats … Trump has turned what was nominally a bad issue for him (-6 on immigration and -10 on deportations, per my tracking) into a complete shit show in the court of public opinion. The question now is whether Democrats will act on their new leverage.”
