US Politics
More than half of Americans think Trump’s immigration policy is ‘too aggressive,’ poll finds
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Read more
More than half of Americans think the Trump administration’s immigration agenda is “too aggressive,” according to a poll carried out three months on from the killings of two American citizens in Minnesota.
Despite the administration’s gear shift on its mass deportation campaign following the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis in January, public opinion is still broadly negative, according to Politico.
In the April poll, 51 percent of Americans said President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign, including the deployment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to U.S. cities, is “too aggressive.” A quarter (25 percent) of Americans who voted for Trump in 2024 agreed, according to the poll.
The presence of ICE agents makes cities more dangerous, according to 51 percent of respondents overall. In January, in the midst of the immigration surge in Minnesota, 52 percent felt the same, indicating little change in sentiment.
Among self-identified MAGA voters, 54 percent said they believe Trump’s deportation efforts are “about right,” while 28 percent said they were “not aggressive enough.”
After public outcry over the killings of the U.S. citizens, the Trump administration pivoted its messaging on immigration and overhauled its leadership, with border czar Tom Homan replacing “commander-at-large” Gregory Bovino, while Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was ousted.
Responding to Politico’s poll, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson maintained the administration’s strategy on immigration was working, touting how Trump was elected to “secure the border and deport criminal illegal aliens” and that he “has done both.”
“The totally secure border means there have been zero releases of illegal aliens for 11 straight months, and the administration remains focused on removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens to secure American communities,” Jackson said. “These commonsense policies are supported by countless Americans.”
The polling comes after an intervention by a group of Trump allies, who have formed a coalition to push his team to resume a more aggressive anti-immigration operation, instead of focusing solely on deporting violent criminals.
The Mass Deportation Coalition, which includes MAGA figures, conservative groups and think tanks close to Trump’s administration, wants to see the president deport all undocumented migrants in the country.
The coalition commissioned polling, conducted by a firm Trump has used in his presidential elections, to back its anti-immigration ideology and said that doubling down on the deportation push will ensure Republicans will win the 2026 midterm elections, Politico reported last month.
According to the poll carried out by McLaughlin & Associates, 66 percent of likely 2026 voters support the deportation of any migrant who enters the U.S. illegally, and 58 percent said they supported deporting all eligible migrants, not only violent criminals.
Trump voters from the last election were asked whether they supported the president’s goal of exceeding former President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s deportation effort in the 1950s — the largest in U.S. history that saw around one-third of illegal migrants leave the country.
In response, 87 percent said they supported that goal.
The poll also found that 74 percent of Trump voters would be more likely to vote for the Republican candidate for Congress if the president exceeded one million deportations of illegal migrants in 2026.