Republicans are struggling to reverse the political damage caused by President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda, according to a new poll.
The Trump administration has pulled back on high-profile ICE raids in blue cities and worked to minimize public clashes with protesters and community members, but new a new Politico poll found those efforts have failed to move the needle.
With less than 90 days until the election, the poll conducted earlier this month by Public First shows half of Americans, including nearly a quarter of Trump’s own 2024 voters, still say his mass deportation campaign is too aggressive, numbers virtually unchanged since January and April surveys.
The persistent backlash follows months of outrage over federal agents killing two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis. A 56 percent majority of Americans say they’ve noticed at least a small shift in how the administration is conducting deportations, but a plurality, 44 percent, say those shifts have made no difference in their trust of the administration on immigration, while 30 percent say the changes have made them trust the administration even less.
Republican strategists warned the administration’s continued push to boost arrest and deportation numbers keeps generating the same viral, unpopular images that fueled the initial backlash.
“It’s a lot easier just to go into an airport and find somebody who had overstayed a visa… and throw them into handcuffs,” said GOP pollster Whit Ayres, calling it “a great way to thoroughly antagonize public opinion.”
The GOP is also fracturing internally, as MAGA loyalists have accused the administration of going soft, particularly after border czar Tom Homan and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin moved to ease tensions following the Minneapolis killings, including a since-reversed pause on some ICE vehicle stops.
Conservative commentator Tomi Lahren warned the retreat could suppress turnout, tweeting, “We are being betrayed in real time.” Meanwhile, non-MAGA Trump voters remain twice as likely as MAGA voters to call the deportation campaign too aggressive, 31 percent versus 15 percent.
The White House disputes the narrative, pointing to spring polling showing 80 percent support for deporting immigrants convicted of crimes and highlighting recent DHS arrests of alleged violent offenders.
“Americans are grateful to the President for removing these criminals from their neighborhoods,” said spokesperson Lauren Bis.
Still, the poll suggests neither base is fully satisfied, leaving Republicans without a clear message heading into the fall campaign.
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