Americans don’t seem to believe they’re getting what they want from Trump’s immigration policies.
I’ve been meaning to look into what the current polling is saying about Americans’ attitudes toward immigration, having seen some conflicting accounts. A tweet from Batya Ungar-Sargon, a NewsNation host, reminded me to do so. She notes three recent polls that she characterizes as showing that Americans “support deporting all illegal aliens” and concludes that “a majority of Americans got what they wanted when they voted.”
I think the balance of the evidence, including from the polls she cites, suggests that Americans dislike some of the Trump administration’s policies and have ambivalence about deportation.
The first poll she mentions is from Harvard/Harris and finds 52 percent support for deporting “all immigrants who are here illegally.” But the same poll finds that 63 percent oppose deporting “an undocumented person who has lived in the U.S. for many years with no serious crimes,” and 68 percent oppose deporting “an undocumented person who arrived as a child.” Only 34 percent have a favorable impression of ICE.
The second poll, from Marquette, has similar results. Fifty-six percent want to deport “immigrants who are living in the United States illegally” (the question did not include the word “all”). But 56 percent oppose deporting people living here illegally “if they have lived here for a number of years, have jobs and no criminal record.” The same percentage disapproves of Trump’s record on immigration. More respondents disapprove of ICE than approve of it, 60-40 percent.
The third poll, from the Republican firm Cygnal, finds 60 percent approval for deporting “those illegally in the United States” (no “all,” again).
Turning to polls other than those Ungar-Sargon cited, Fox News has 59 percent characterizing ICE as “too aggressive” and 55 percent disapproving of Trump’s performance on immigration. Quinnipiac has Trump’s performance at 59 percent disapproval. It also gives respondents a choice on whether most illegal immigrants should be deported or given a path to legal status, and 59 percent pick the softer option. ICE is at 63 percent disapproval. CBS has Trump’s immigration performance at 58 percent disapproval. It finds support for legalization and for deportation roughly tied (46-45). A silver lining for Republicans in the CBS poll: They lead the Democrats on the question of who has the better approach to immigration policy, 39-29 percent.
But all in all, Americans don’t seem to believe they’re getting what they want from Trump’s immigration policies.