Trump’s immigration tactics face pushback from independents, according to an AP-NORC poll
A new AP-NORC poll finds that most Americans disapprove of President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement tactics in cities, with a sharp divide between Republicans and independents that has widened over the past year. Overall, about 6 in 10 U.S. adults say Trump has “gone too far” by sending federal immigration agents into American cities and by using federal law enforcement at public protests, the poll found. About 4 in 10 said they approve of the president’s approach to immigration enforcement.
The poll, conducted Feb. 5-8 with 1,156 adults, suggests political independents are increasingly uncomfortable with the administration’s methods even as Trump’s overall numbers stay relatively stable. The survey also found that Trump’s immigration approval appears to have fallen among independents since last spring, even while his approval on immigration among his core supporters remains high.
Independents’ concerns show up in multiple parts of the survey, including questions about whether Trump has gone too far. About 6 in 10 independents said Trump has “gone too far” in deporting immigrants living in the United States illegally, compared with 46% in an AP-NORC poll in April, according to the AP story. By contrast, only about one-quarter of Republicans agreed with that view, and about half of Republicans said Trump’s actions are “about right,” with about one-quarter saying he has not gone far enough.
Some Republicans in the poll expressed stronger support for broader or more aggressive enforcement. Teviss Crawford, a 20-year-old student from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, said he was pleased with Trump’s leadership on immigration and argued that deportations had not been enough. “I don’t think the deportations have been enough, to be honest. I think it’s much too lax,” Crawford said, adding that he wanted more deportations and noting that he believed enforcement should focus on people he described as violent criminals.
The poll also found a majority of Americans have an unfavorable view of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Overall, only about 3 in 10 U.S. adults said they have a favorable view of ICE, while Republicans and independents differed sharply. About 7 in 10 Republicans expressed favorable views of ICE, compared with only about 1 in 10 Democrats and roughly 2 in 10 independents, the poll found.
Independent voters who disapproved of the tactics cited what they described as militarized enforcement and concerns about constitutional boundaries. Independent Brenda Shaw, a 65-year-old human resources manager from South Haven, Michigan, said she was glad that immigrants were not crossing the border but criticized what she described as the approach used in cities. “I am glad that immigrants aren’t just flooding across the border, but what he’s doing now in our cities, pitting the military against our people, these are gestapo tactics,” Shaw said. “They’re shooting U.S. citizens in the face and in the back.”
That criticism comes as the nation has watched the human impact of the administration’s crackdown in Minneapolis, where thousands of heavily armed masked agents reportedly descended on the city to find and remove immigrants in the country illegally. The administration announced it would end the operation there, saying it had left the state safer than before, while the story also described violent clashes with protesters, including two U.S. citizens killed by federal agents.
Independent voters also questioned how federal enforcement was being used in protests and everyday settings. Independent Rick Kinnett, a 60-year-old Navy veteran from Crawfordsville, Indiana, said he disapproved of what he described as aggressive tactics. “Having the border shut, that’s OK. But what Trump is doing with ICE and Homeland Security? You don’t go yanking people out of cars. You don’t go shooting people,” Kinnett said. “I spent eight years in the military. This is not what I signed up for,” he added, saying it is “not what we’re supposed to do” and “not constitutional.”
While the poll found broad concern about the tactics, it also suggested that Trump’s immigration handling has not shifted as much among the overall population as it has among independents. Views of Trump’s handling of immigration fell over the course of his first year but remained steady over the past month, with about 4 in 10 saying they approve of his approach, according to the story. The poll also found that Trump’s overall approval on immigration did not move since January, and about 38% of U.S. adults approved of Trump’s handling of immigration more broadly, aligning with an January AP-NORC poll conducted just after the death of Renee Good, the story said.
The AP story also reports that Republicans have retained strong support for Trump’s immigration approach. At the same time, it found that Republicans’ advantage on immigration has shrunk since October: in October, 39% of U.S. adults said they trusted Republicans to handle immigration better compared with 26% for Democrats, a 13-point edge, while in the new poll the difference was only 4 points. The changing gap, along with the independence shift, suggests the immigration enforcement approach may remain a political weak spot for Trump outside his core base as lawmakers and voters prepare for the coming political season.
The poll’s numbers also extend to how respondents view the parties’ overall competence on immigration. About 3 in 10 U.S. adults trust Republicans to do a better job handling immigration, while a similar share said they trust Democrats. Another 3 in 10, roughly, said neither party would do a better job, and about 1 in 10 said both parties would handle immigration equally well.
In addition to the stated survey results, the AP-NORC story reported margin of sampling error for adults overall as plus or minus 3.9 percentage points. It said the sampling was drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, intended to be representative of the U.S. population.