September and October 2025 polling on immigration underscores several lessons that continue the major trajectory and trendlines on the issue we’ve been monitoring throughout 2025. Support for President Trump on immigration remains underwater and both ICE and this administration’s immigration enforcement actions are unpopular, especially when details of who they are targeting and how they are pursuing mass deportations are tested. Meanwhile, new polling again finds that a balanced immigration approach, prioritizing both “order and humanity,” and that includes legal status for long-residing immigrants is much more popular than the mass deportation agenda – and all its harms – that Americans are currently witnessing and experiencing.
Despite these findings, and recent declines in Trump and Republicans’ handling of immigration Democrats still trail on polling that gauges which party has a higher trust level among the public on this issue and, in particular, border security. This underscores the importance – and potential openings – for opponents of the Trump anti-immigrant agenda to address the issue through a balanced approach that restores credibility, connects with the broad majority and presents the American public with an alternative vision to Trump and ICE’s cruelty and harms.
Below are five key takeaways about the current immigration public opinion landscape (followed by detailed evidence for each of the points in following pages)
- Trump’s immigration approval remains underwater
- ICE and mass deportations are unpopular, especially when details about how they are being carried out are tested.
- Americans strongly prefer legal status for undocumented immigrants over mass deportation and remain supportive of a balanced approach prioritizing both “order and humanity.”
- Americans oppose deploying military and National Guard troops to U.S. cities.
- Democrats’ immigration “trust deficit” persists, but voters also are growing skeptical about Trump/Republicans’ handling of the issue.
Point 1: President Trump’s immigration approval remains underwater. Continuing the trendlines from earlier in 2025 (see here), Trump remains underwater on “immigration” in recent polls. In eight separate major public polls released in September and October 2025, Trump’s approval averaged 53% disapproval and 44% approval – similar to the numbers seen in summer 2025 and a decline from the early months of the Trump administration.
- AP/NORC (Oct. 2025): 56-42% disapproval of Trump on immigration
- CBS/YouGov (Oct. 2025) 55-45% disapproval of Trump on immigration
- PRRI (Oct. 2025): 54-43% disapproval of Trump on immigration (41% strongly disapprove vs. 27% who strongly approve)
- NYTimes/Siena (Oct. 2025): 52-46% disapproval of Trump on immigration (43% strongly disapprove vs. 35% who strongly approve)
- Echelon Insights/Puck News (Oct. 2025): 51-47% disapproval of Trump on immigration (41% strongly disapprove vs. 34% who strongly approve)
- Reuters/Ipsos (Oct. 2025): 48-41% disapproval of Trump on immigration
- Washington Post/Ipsos (Sept. 2025): 55-44% disapproval of Trump on “immigration.”
- Fox News (Sept. 2025): 52-47% disapproval of Trump on “immigration” (though 57-43% approval on “border security).
Point 2: ICE and mass deportations are unpopular, especially when details about how they are being carried out are tested.
- PRRI (Oct. 2025): Among the key immigration findings from the 2025 edition of the massive sample (5,000+ respondents) annual American Values Survey included:
- By a 57-41% margin, Americans said things were going in the “wrong direction” regarding the way “the federal government is dealing with undocumented immigrants.”
- 56% of Americans lacked confidence in ICE vs. 42% with confidence (among those who felt strongly, a plurality of 35% said “none at all” vs. 18% who said “a great deal.”)
- By a 56-39% margin, Americans have unfavorable impression of ICE, with plurality of 35% saying “very unfavorable”
- By a 58-38% margin, Americans agree that ICE officers “should not be allowed to conceal their identity with masks or unmarked vehicles when arresting people” (a plurality of 40% “completely agree” vs. 23% who “completely disagree”).
- By a 52-33% margin, respondents said the “increase in funding for Immigration, Customs, and Enforcement (ICE) to speed up efforts to arrest, detain, and deport undocumented immigrants” had gone “too far.”
- CBS/YouGov (Oct. 2025): 49% said Trump is focusing “too much” on “deporting immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally” vs. 34% who say the “right amount.” The poll also found 52-48% disapproval of “the Trump administration’s program to find and deport immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally” (an 11-percentage point drop in support since February, when the same pollsters found 59-41% support).
- Echelon Insights/Puck News (Oct. 2025):
- 72% of Americans have heard “a lot” or “some” about ICE arrests.
- There is a strong consensus (50-34% margin) that ICE agents should not “wear masks or face coverings while conducting arrests in public places” – notable given the 47-45% narrow support in the abstract for “ICE’s immigration enforcement efforts” and underscoring that when details are tested about how the mass deportation effort is being carried out, support declines.
- As Peter Hamby of Puck summarized: “The first-person videos of masked agents arresting immigrants—often in broad daylight, in public spaces, at times separating zip-tied parents from children howling in anguish—have reached escape velocity across social media platforms … It’s usually the case that an attention war favors Trump … But Echelon found that ICE is simply not very popular with Americans these days, and the public is increasingly concerned about their behavior.”
- NYTimes/Siena (Oct. 2025): When asked a three-part question about “Donald Trump’s actions on immigration enforcement,” 51% said he had “gone too far” while 12% said he had “not gone far enough” and 35% said his actions were “about right.” The opposition to this administration’s actions were notable in light of the same poll’s finding 54-43% support in the abstract for “deporting immigrants living in the United States illegally back to their home countries.”
Point 3: Americans strongly prefer legal status for undocumented immigrants over mass deportation and remain supportive of a balanced approach prioritizing both “order and humanity.”
- PRRI (Oct. 2025): By a 72-24% margin, Americans supported some form of legal status for undocumented immigrants over mass deportation in the new 2025 edition of PRRI’s massive sample (5,000+ respondent) American Values Survey. When asked a three-part question about preferred policy for undocumented immigrants:
- 60% prefer, “allow them a way to become citizens provided they meet certain requirements” and 12% prefer, “allow them to become permanent legal residents, but not citizens” versus 24% who prefer, “identify and deport them.”
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- Third Way (national/battleground polling by Normington Petts from Oct. 2025) did not test legalization vs. mass deportation head-to-head, but was filled with relevant findings about voters’ nuanced views, including strong support for a legal status for long-residing, law-abiding undocumented immigrants and support for a balanced immigration approach that reflects “a public that wants immigration handled with order and humanity.” Of note:
- By a 76-24% margin, respondents supported “a pathway for illegal immigrants who have contributed to their local communities for years and committed no crimes to earn citizenship” (an equal 76-24% margin supported a “legal status but not citizenship” option).
- By a 51-49% margin, respondents approved of “President Trump’s immigration enforcement and ICE raids.”
- Third Way (national/battleground polling by Normington Petts from Oct. 2025) did not test legalization vs. mass deportation head-to-head, but was filled with relevant findings about voters’ nuanced views, including strong support for a legal status for long-residing, law-abiding undocumented immigrants and support for a balanced immigration approach that reflects “a public that wants immigration handled with order and humanity.” Of note:
- See more from the poll for detailed findings on support for both border security and asylum; deportations of violent offenders and upholding due process; local law enforcement role in immigration enforcement and limits; and public views toward immigration and unprecedented $170 billion in immigration enforcement funding in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA).
Also see a host of relevant summer 2025 polls that found similar support for a balanced immigration approach and legal status over mass deportation – 63-27% in Navigator (July 2025); 59-29% in Fox News (July 2025); 64-31% in Quinnipiac (June 2025); and 65-34% in Pew Research (June 2025).
Point 4: Americans oppose deploying military and National Guard troops to U.S. cities.
- Quinnipiac (October 2025): By a 56-41% margin, Americans disapprove of President Trump “sending the National Guard and law enforcement from federal agencies, including ICE, to cities in the United States in an effort to reduce crime.”
- Reuters/Ipsos (October 2025) found that by a 58-25% margin, Americans think the “president should only deploy troops to areas with external threats.” The same poll also found by a 47-38% margin, Americans disagree with the idea that “the president should be able to send troops into a state even if its governor objects.”
- CBS/YouGov (Oct. 2025) 61-39% opposition to Trump “deploying active duty U.S. military troops to U.S. cities” and 58-42% opposition to Trump “deploying the National Guard to U.S. cities.”
- NYTimes/Siena (Oct. 2025):
- By 51-41% margin, Americans oppose “the deployment of National Guard troops in Washington, DC” (43% “strongly oppose” vs. 31% who “strongly support”)
- When asked a three-part question about, “Donald Trump’s actions sending National Guard troops into big cities,” 53% said he had “gone too far” while 10% said he had “not gone far enough” and 33% said the actions were “about right.”
Point 5: Democrats’ immigration “trust deficit” persists, but voters also are skeptical about Trump/Republicans’ handling of the issue. Republicans are still more trusted than Democrats on “immigration,” but public trust in their handling of the issue appears to have declined in recent months in similar fashion to President Trump’s declining immigration approval ratings on the issue (note a Fox News poll from July that found Republicans’ were more trusted by 52% of respondents and a Wall Street Journal poll from July that showed Republicans with a 45-28% advantage). Of note, Republicans’ advantage on “border security” remains significant and hasn’t declined since earlier in the year. Relevant September and October polls include:
- AP/NORC (Oct. 2025): Republicans have a 39-26% advantage over Democrats when asked which party is trusted more on immigration. However, an additional 26% said “neither” party.
- Washington Post/Ipsos (Sept. 2025): When asked which political party the respondent trusts more on immigration, Republicans have a 13-percentage point advantage over Democrats: 42-29% (an additional 28% said they trusted “neither” party).
- Reuters/Ipsos (Sept. 2025): When asked “which party has a better plan on immigration?” respondents chose Republicans over Democrats by a 40-22% margin.
- Third Way (national/battleground polling by Normington Petts from Oct. 2025) – their poll writeup noted, “while voters are softening in their views toward Trump and his party on immigration overall, they still don’t trust Democrats to manage the border responsibly” with relevant poll findings including:
- Which party do you trust on immigration? Republicans had the advantage over Democrats by a 56-36% margin (was 62-32% in a March Third Way poll).
- Which party do you trust on border security? Republicans had a 66-26% advantage (was virtually identical 66-25% margin in the March poll).
Moving Forward: Key lessons are clear:
- Americans are concerned about Trump’s reckless and harmful mass deportations and the way they are being implemented.
- Americans prefer a balanced approach that addresses their concerns about border security alongside continued, strong support for legal status for long-residing undocumented immigrants.
- There is a pressing need in the public debate to address the issue through a balanced approach that connects with the broad majority of the American public and presents an alternative vision to Trump and ICE’s cruelty and harms.
As the Third Way poll memo noted, “Voters want balance: a forward-looking vision that emphasizes how immigration strengthens America, accountability for those who break the law, and compassion for those who follow it.”
There are a growing set of approaches from both Democrats and outside experts who oppose the mass deportation agenda that aim to present an alternative vision on immigration that takes into account the “trust deficit,” the political moment, the policy challenges, and where the majority of the American public is. Examples include the Dignity Act of 2025, New Democratic Coalition immigration framework, CAP Immigration Framework, Sen. Gallego Immigration Framework and recent op-eds from Rep. Tom Suozzi and AV Executive Director Vanessa Cárdenas).
As Vanessa Cárdenas stated: “The public wants solutions and things fixed, not destroyed, and that includes the broken immigration system that has been desperate for an overhaul for decades.”
