Many Americans say Trump’s immigration crackdown makes U.S. unwelcoming: poll

Many Americans see U.S. less welcoming for immigrants after enforcement, poll finds

Most U.S. adults say the United States is no longer a great place for immigrants, according to a new AP-NORC poll conducted as the Trump administration continues aggressive immigration enforcement and the Supreme Court weighs a case tied to birthright citizenship.

The survey, released by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research and based on interviews with more than 2,500 U.S. adults, found that about 6 in 10 respondents say the country used to be a great place for immigrants but is not anymore. About one-third of U.S. adults reported that, during roughly the past year, they or someone they know began carrying proof of immigration status or U.S. citizenship, were detained or deported, changed travel plans, or significantly altered routines such as avoiding work, school or leaving the house because of immigration status.

For some respondents, that personal adaptation took shape in how they prepared for everyday errands. Missouri retiree Reid Gibson, 72, said he was angry about the effects of the Trump administration’s immigration approach and worried about how long it could take for Americans to recover what he described as damage to immigrant life in the country.

“It’s just plain wrong,” Gibson said. “This is not a good country for immigrants anymore.”

The poll found that those personal connections to immigration enforcement were not evenly distributed across party lines. Democrats were more likely than independents or Republicans to say they knew someone affected, and those with a personal connection were more likely to say the United States is no longer a great place for immigrants.

Kathy Bailey, 79, a Democrat from Illinois, described how immigration enforcement showed up even in small-town activities she said she normally considers routine. She said two women in a swim class she attends, both naturalized U.S. citizens, began carrying their passports when they leave home.

“She’s an American citizen now, but she’s so scared that she has to carry her passport,” said Bailey. “She’s just another sweet old grandmother swimming at 5 in the morning.”

The poll also pointed to sharp differences by ethnicity. It found that about 6 in 10 Hispanic adults said they or someone they know has been impacted by immigration enforcement in similar ways, a higher share than among Black or white adults.

Nick Grivas, 40, of Massachusetts, said he felt the effects of immigration policy through a family history tied to his grandfather’s move to the United States from Greece. Grivas said that experience helped shape his view that the country has stopped signaling welcome to people seeking a new life, including children of immigrants that he said Americans are no longer treating as future Americans.

“We can see how we’re treating children and the children of the immigrants, and we’re not viewing them as potential future Americans,” Grivas said.

In the broader results, roughly 3 in 10 U.S. adults said the United States is a great place for immigrants, while about 1 in 10 said it never was. The poll said the view that the country is no longer great for immigrants was more common among Democrats and independents, as well as among people born outside the United States.

The poll’s findings come as the Supreme Court is considering whether the Trump administration should be allowed to restrict birthright citizenship. The issue before the court focuses on whether children born to parents in the country illegally or temporarily can be treated as not American citizens.

While the survey found that about two-thirds of U.S. adults support automatic citizenship for all children born in the country, it found lower support among Republicans, with 44% backing birthright citizenship. Respondents also expressed nuanced views, with some saying they generally support birthright citizenship but oppose it in specific circumstances.

Linda Steele, 70, of Florida, said she opposes automatic citizenship for children of parents who she described as living in the United States without being American citizens. Steele, a Republican, said only children born to American citizens should receive citizenship.

“That shouldn’t be allowed,” Steele said. “They’re just here visiting or going to school.”

The poll asked about specific situations and found variation in support. It found that about 6 in 10 U.S. adults said they support birthright citizenship for children born to parents on legal U.S. tourist visas, while only about half support it for children born to parents in the country illegally. It found even higher support—about 75%—for automatic citizenship for children born in the United States to parents legally in the country on work visas, with the increased backing coming from Republicans in the poll.

Kevin Craig, 57, of Wilmington, North Carolina, said he did not believe citizenship should be automatic in all cases and pointed to the role of individual judgment. Craig said he believed there should be “at least some opportunity for intervention by a human being who can make some sort of a judgment.”

But Craig added: “I think my personal opinion is that I can’t think of a situation where it would not be granted.”

The AP-NORC poll of 2,596 adults was conducted April 16-20 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall was plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.