US support for immigration rebounds as Trump cracks down on it, poll finds

Straits Times

6 days ago

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Support was particularly low with Hispanic adults, 21 per cent of whom approved of Mr Donald Trump's approach on the issue.
NEW YORK - Six months into the Trump administration's efforts to carry out the largest mass deportation effort in US history, a new poll shows that the American public is once again warming to immigration.
A sustained increase in migrants crossing the southern border starting in 2021 had stirred anxiety and anger across the United States, and public support for immigration plunged as Mr Donald Trump made the issue the centrepiece of his campaign to return to the White House.
But in the past year, Americans have grown less negative about the issue, with the share of those wanting to see immigration decrease now totalling 30 per cent, compared to 55 per cent in 2024, according to the new survey, conducted by Gallup, a polling organisation.
A record high of adults in the United States – 79 per cent – now believes immigration is a 'good thing' for the country.
The results are in line with other recent surveys that suggest attitudes on immigration may be shifting as Mr Trump has
intensified efforts to detain and deport people .
Illegal crossings at the US-Mexico border, which began dropping in 2024 under President Joe Biden, are now at their lowest level in decades, and major cities like New York are no longer struggling to care for large numbers of migrants.
At the same time, people in many communities – large and small, urban and rural – are seeing immigrant relatives, friends and neighbours taken away by federal agents.
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Still, immigration remains an area where Mr Trump receives some of his strongest approval ratings.
Gallup pollsters said Mr Trump's 'swift and visible' response had allayed concern among some Republicans, which in turn shifted overall American sentiment on immigration back to where it was before migration levels climbed to record heights.
'We went through a period of irregularity in attitudes on immigration, and now we are just getting back to a normal,' said Ms Lydia Saad, Gallup's director of US social research.
But where pollsters are still seeing partisan friction, she added, are with the Trump policies.
The new Gallup poll found that more Americans disapprove rather than approve of Mr Trump's handling of the issue, which has been the case since Mr Trump took office.
Support for stricter border enforcement measures is down over the last year – though a majority of Americans still support stricter measures – while support for creating pathways to citizenship for immigrants living in the US illegally remains high.
The Gallup poll, conducted from June 2 to 26 and released on July 11, found that support for the president's handling of immigration has fallen, with 35 per cent approving, down from 46 per cent in February.
Support was particularly low with Hispanic adults, 21 per cent of whom approved of Mr Trump's approach on the issue, 14 percentage points below the national number.
The numbers most likely reflect that demographic group's low support for some of his administration's marquee immigration policies, Ms Saad said, such as deporting all immigrants in the country illegally and increasing the number of immigration agents.
Still, a plurality of Hispanic adults – 39 per cent – said they wanted immigration levels to decrease, while only 30 per cent of the general public said the same.
The results mark a dramatic reversal in trends that began in 2021 when immigration apprehensions hit levels not seen in 20 years and more than 1.5 million people crossed the southern border for the first time.
In recent years, a majority of Americans had come to see the situation at the border as a problem, and concern over immigration, both legal and illegal, had been rising.
2024 was the first time since 2005 that a majority of Americans told Gallup they wanted to see immigration in the country decrease.
Mr Trump was voted into the White House for a second term after a campaign marked by nativist rallying cries against migrants and pledges to carry out mass deportations – and with many Americans ranking immigration as most important issue in the election.
Since then, Mr Trump and his allies have embarked on an immigration crackdown more sweeping than the one he undertook in his first term and harsher than any since World War II.
In its first months, his administration has
implemented a travel ban, rolled back temporary deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of people and fast-tracked asylum cases without granting court hearings.
His administration has also sought to ramp up arrests and raids at homes, courthouses and workplaces; suspend a wide array of student visas; invoke centuries-old wartime law to summarily deport people; and end the constitutional right granting citizenship to all children born on US soil.
The recent shift in attitudes about immigration has been driven primarily by Republicans, whose support for lowering immigration rates plummeted to 48 per cent, from 88 per cent just one year ago.
Although a plurality still want immigration to decrease, an increasing share expressed a desire to keep immigration at current levels.
In turn, a 64 per cent majority of Republicans now say immigration is a good thing for the country, up from 39 per cent in 2024.
The poll, which surveyed 1,402 US adults, is the latest public opinion research to show a drop in Mr Trump's approval ratings on immigration and a mixed-to-negative response to his hardline policies.
A New York Times/Siena College poll in April found that Mr Trump's highest approval rating was on immigration, though slightly more Americans disapproved than approved of his handling of the issue and 53 per cent believed he had gone too far on enforcement.
A Pew study in June found Americans evenly split over his administration's use of state and local law enforcement officers in its deportation dragnet, and over its efforts to offer money and travel funds to immigrants who leave voluntarily.
But a majority of the public disapproved of ending Temporary Protected Status programmes, suspending most asylum applications and increasing Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids on job sites where immigrants who are in the United States illegally may be working. NYTIMES