Washington, DC — As more public polling and analysis shows just how unpopular the anti-immigrant, mass deportation agenda is (see a roundup of recent polling below), we also have more reminders that President Trump and de facto President Stephen Miller is planning “a reset on its mass-deportation goals, not a retreat,” as Nick Miroff of The Atlantic phrased.
For just two examples, see the Trump/Miller renewed push for the “expedited removal” of 5-year old Liam Conejo Ramos and his family for deportation and note the administration’s refusal to return the 19-year old college freshman Any Lucia Lopez Belloza from Honduras, despite a court ruling and recognition she was deported in error.
According to Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
“As long as Stephen Miller is driving immigration policy from the White House with the blessing of President Trump, any notion that the administration will rein in their anti-immigrant and mass deportation ambitions is flat out wrong as we keep seeing in heartbreaking detail. Yet Trump remains in lock step with Miller’s full steam ahead obsession, seemingly impervious to the related reality that mass deportation is becoming a political albatross that is dragging down Trump and will hang around the necks of Republicans this midterm season. The American public is hungry for a different vision – one that prioritizes community safety and upholds both our values and rights.”
Polling Roundup: Broad Disapproval of Trump/ICE; Majority Agreement that ICE and Mass Deportation Agenda “Goes Too Far” and Make Us “Less Safe;” Strong Majority Support for Proposed ICE Reforms
ICE and mass deportation agenda have “gone too far”
- PBS/NPR/Marist ( 2026): 65% of Americans say ICE has “gone too far” while 12% say they haven’t gone “far enough” and 22% say ICE enforcement has been “about right.” 93% of Democrats, 71% of Independents, and 27% of Republicans say “gone too far.”
- Ipsos ( 2026): 62% of Americans say ICE “efforts to deal with unauthorized immigration” “go too far,” while 13% say “not far enough” and 23% say “about right.” 92% of Democrats, 65% of Independents, and 30% of Republicans say “too far.”
- Quinnipiac (Feb 2026): : 60% say the administration has been “too harsh” in its “treatment of undocumented immigrants in the United States” vs. 7% who say “too lenient” and 30% who say “about right.”
Mass deportation and ICE actions are making Americans less safe
- PBS/NPR/Marist ( 2026): By a 63-37% margin, Americans say ICE’s actions are making Americans less safe, (13% “somewhat less safe” and a 50% majority saying “much less safe”). 91% of Democrats, 69% of Independents, and 22% of Republicans say “less safe.”
- Quinnipiac (Feb 2026): By 51-35% margin, Americans think “the Trump administration’s approach to immigration is making the country” less safe rather than more safe. 85% of Democrats, 54% of Independents, and 11% of Republicans say “less safe.”
- YouGov (late Jan 2026): 52% said “less safe”, 29% “more safe”, and 19% either “neither” or “not sure.”
Disapproval of Trump on immigration, Stephen Miller, and ICE
- PBS/NPR/Marist ( 2026): 60-33% disapproval of the job ICE is doing. 91% of Democrats, 66% of Independents, and 21% of Republicans disapprove.
- Quinnipiac (Feb 2026): 63-34% disapproval of ICE and 59-38% disapproval of Trump on immigration.
- Navigator (Feb 2026):
- By a 54-42% margin, a majority disapproves of Trump on immigration (as Navigator notes, “Since June, Trump’s immigration approval rating has declined by a net 23 points among independents from net -4 in June to net -27 now).
- By a 52-32% margin, Americans want Stephen Miller fired – when details about Miller’s influence and his defense of the shooting of Alex Pretti are included.
- By a 58-36% margin, Americans have an unfavorable view of ICE
Broad Support for Proposed Reforms to ICE and Mass Deportation in Action
- Navigator (Feb 2026): In testing 16 different reform proposals, Navigator found a majority of Americans support each of the 16, with more criminal background checks for ICE agents and body cameras the highest testing.
- Polling analyst G. Elliott Morris, “What Americans actually want done about ICE,” noting: “I have spent a good amount of space here recently documenting how America has reached a tipping point on immigration and that appetite for reform — including abolishing ICE outright — has risen in the past year. And polls show there is intense anger at how Donald Trump has carried out his agenda of mass deportations over the last year; net favorability of ICE has recently fallen to an all-time low, averaging -20 across pollsters. So now that Democrats have leverage, it’s worth asking the question: What reforms do Americans actually want? … Recent events have put Democrats in a very strong position to demand serious reforms of immigration enforcement … major reforms of ICE and DHS are supported by the vast majority of Americans. Voting against body cameras or independent investigations means voting against 80-95% of the public. You do not want to be on the wrong side of that vote.”
