Trump's Deportations — And Detentions — Are Incredibly Unpopular
In general, approval of his handling of the subject has plummeted in recent months as he's backed inhumane detention facilities and ramped up deportations of undocumented immigrants, many of whom have no criminal history.
According to a CBS News/YouGov poll conducted between July 16 and July 18, while 46% of U.S. adults disapproved of his approach to immigration in March, that figure has surged to 56% in July. Similarly, a CNN/SSRS poll conducted between July 10 and July 13, found that 58% of U.S. adults disapprove of his handling of immigration.
That dissatisfaction has coincided with numerous reports of abysmal conditions at immigration detention sites, and growing scrutiny of Immigration and Customs Enforcement tactics as agents conduct brutal raids and ambush immigrants at their homes and workplaces.
Public support for Trump's efforts to deport undocumented immigrants has declined since February, when 41% of Americans disapproved of these actions, per the CBS News poll. Now, 51% of Americans disapprove.
In the CNN poll, 55% of U.S. adults say that Trump has gone too far with his deportations of undocumented immigrants, a double-digit jump from 45% who said the same in February.
And a majority of Americans in the CBS poll — 56% — now think Trump is prioritizing deportations of people who are not dangerous criminals as ICE agents have targeted high school students with no criminal records and longtime small-business owners in various communities.
Popularity of immigration enforcement policies declines notably when people are asked about removing immigrants who've been in the U.S. for many years, and who don't have any criminal history, CNN notes.
Trump's policies on immigration detention also garner serious levels of pushback, which come as he's touted horrific circumstances in Florida at a state-led Everglades detention site, citing the alligators in the area that would prevent immigrants from escaping.
Per the CBS News poll, 58% of Americans oppose how Trump is using detention facilities, and in the CNN survey, 57% opposed the construction of new facilities to detain as many as 100,000 undocumented immigrants.
Trump's floundering approval numbers on the issue point to a potential opening for Democrats who now have a larger proportion of voters highlighting immigration as one of their top issues, according to CNN.
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Associated Press
25 minutes ago
- Associated Press
A look at details of the settlement between Columbia University and the Trump administration
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Washington Post
25 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Public broadcasting is for MAGA, too
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Vogler had used the trail for years before the preserve was established in 1978 as part of the National Park System. His armed confrontation with the preserve's superintendent at remote Weber Creek raised serious issues for environmentalists, gold miners, National Park Service officials, elected representatives and local landowners, all of whom expressed diverse opinions to inform a national audience. The documentary was balanced to appeal to local as well as national viewers, and the response was overwhelmingly positive from a wide and highly diverse audience, including Alaska's gold-mining community. To present contrasting viewpoints on issues of interest to broad audiences around the United States is what public broadcasting does best. Its funding must be restored. Robert A. Hooper, San Diego The writer is a former producer at PBS member station KUAC in Fairbanks, Alaska. 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New York Times
28 minutes ago
- New York Times
Trump Administration Sues New York City Over Sanctuary Laws
The Justice Department on Thursday sued Mayor Eric Adams, claiming that New York City's immigration policies are hindering the Trump administration's enforcement of the law, in an escalation of efforts to crack down on the country's largest sanctuary city. In a 37-page lawsuit filed in Federal District Court in Brooklyn, the Trump administration said the city's policies had violated the supremacy clause of the Constitution, which it said gives the administration 'well-established, pre-eminent and pre-emptive authority to regulate immigration.' 'New York City has long been at the vanguard of interfering with enforcing this country's immigration laws,' the administration said in its suit. 'Its history as a sanctuary city dates back to 1989, and its efforts to thwart federal immigration enforcement have only intensified since.' In 2014, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed bills into law that all but stopped the police and jail officials from helping federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents deport undocumented immigrants. The law expelled ICE from offices it had maintained at the Rikers Island jail complex and strictly limited the communication allowed between ICE and the city's Department of Correction. The measures also restricted city agencies from honoring ICE's requests to detain undocumented immigrants who had been charged with crimes so that they could be deported. Under the law, the city could honor requests to detain only those who had been convicted of 'violent or serious' crimes — a list of more than 170 offenses that includes rape and murder. ICE also now had to present a warrant signed by a federal judge with each request. Efforts to reach New York officials on Thursday afternoon were not immediately successful. This is a developing story and will be updated.