Thirteen months into President Donald Trump’s second term, a growing majority of Americans have soured on his handling of immigration, with 58 percent saying he has gone too far deporting undocumented immigrants, a rise of eight points since last fall, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll.
The survey finds that a slightly higher number, 62 percent, oppose the aggressive tactics of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a result that comes after federal immigration personnel shot and killed two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis last month. More than half the public is “upset” or “angry” about enforcement operations in that city.
Trump’s approval rating on one of his signature campaign issues has eroded steadily over the past year, falling to 40 percent in the latest poll, down 10 points from a year ago, when half the country approved of his handling of immigration. The president receives higher marks — 47 percent approval — for his handling of the U.S.-Mexico border, specifically. Illegal border crossings rose dramatically during the Biden administration but dropped sharply in Trump’s first year.
The widespread negative views of Trump’s immigration crackdown underscore a stark political reality ahead of his State of the Union address next week. Once a pillar in the president’s efforts to build a larger electoral coalition in 2024, immigration may no longer be a reliable bulwark for GOP lawmakers, who are increasingly worried about their chances of maintaining full control of Congress in the midterm elections this fall.
At the same time, half of the nearly 2,600 Americans surveyed in mid-February said they support federal efforts to deport all of the estimated 14 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States — a figure that is almost identical to the 51 percent who supported doing so a year ago. And the public opposes abolishing ICE by a margin of 50 percent to 37 percent.
The poll nonetheless shows Americans are increasingly uncomfortable with how that campaign is being carried out. In October, the public was divided on expanded ICE operations to detain and deport undocumented immigrants, with 45 percent in support and 46 percent opposed. Today, Americans oppose ICE’s widening operations by 53 percent to 40 percent.
Just over three-quarters of Americans overall, including a majority of Republicans, say federal officers should be required to obtain a warrant signed by a judge to force their way into a private residence. A recently disclosed ICE memo permits officers to enter homes with an administrative warrant signed by senior ICE officials — a move that immigration lawyers and advocates say violates the Constitution.
And while administration officials frequently say ICE is targeting the “worst of the worst,” 7 in 10 Americans believe that “less than half” or “hardly any” of the immigrants deported since January 2025 were violent criminals, according to the poll.
The poll also underscores the extent to which large numbers of Americans are living in fear of the deportation dragnet. One in 3 people say they worry that a family member or close friend could be detained by federal immigration officers — a figure that rises to 44 percent of Black Americans, 49 percent of Asian Americans and 54 percent of Hispanics.
Tim Nguyen, 27, an accountant in Philadelphia whose parents emigrated from Vietnam before he was born, said he supported Trump in 2024, citing concerns about crime and drug policies. He was among those who participated in the poll and said he opposed the expanded ICE detentions and the tactics used by ICE officers.
In an interview, Nguyen said he was disturbed by the fatal shootings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis and that he believes the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement is “definitely going too far.” He added that news of people being arrested while trying to help immigrants is “way too much. That’s taking advantage of people’s kindness.”
Nguyen worked for the Internal Revenue Service but took a buyout early last year as part of DOGE Service’s efforts to eliminate government jobs. He said he would consider voting for Democrats in the midterms.
“With all this happening, I want to look more into the issues,” he said. “I do not want to make the same mistake twice.”
The poll found that 75 percent of Asian Americans believe the administration is going too far on deportations, up from 50 percent in the fall. The number of Black Americans who feel that way jumped from 62 percent to 76 percent, while 70 percent of Hispanics and 48 percent of White adults agree.
The Trump administration took steps to tamp down public outrage after the shootings of Good and Pretti, tapping border czar Tom Homan, a former acting director of ICE, to take the lead on the Minneapolis operation from Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino. Homan has since said most of the 3,000 federal immigration officers are being withdrawn from the city.
Yet Trump has continued to tout his hard-line agenda. In an interview with NBC News this month, he said: “I learned that maybe we could use a little bit of a softer touch. But you still have to be tough.”
Trump has maintained that voters prefer his immigration policies over those of President Joe Biden, and his current ratings on the issue are not as negative as they were for his predecessor. A late-2024 Reuters-Ipsos poll found 26 percent approved of Biden’s handling of immigration, while 57 percent disapproved and 18 percent had no opinion. (The new poll did not offer a “no opinion” response option).
The Post-ABC-Ipsos poll suggests that Democrats have not been able to capitalize on the president’s sagging support on immigration. Asked whom they trust more on the issue, 38 percent said Trump, 34 percent said congressional Democrats and 24 percent said neither. Democrats held an eight-point advantage on this question in 2018, shortly after the first Trump administration reversed a policy of separating migrant families at the border, and the party took control of the House from Republicans in that year’s midterms.
ICE is moving rapidly to expand its operations after Congress provided the Trump administration $170 billion in new funding for immigration enforcement last year. The agency said it has hired thousands of new officers and is planning to use $38.3 billion to purchase warehouses across the country and retrofit them into federal detention centers.
At the same time, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE and Border Patrol, has faced mounting scrutiny from lawmakers. A growing number of House Democrats have said they would support impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem. This week, Noem’s top spokeswoman announced she is leaving the administration.
The Post-ABC-Ipsos poll found that 44 percent of the public supports replacing Noem, while 23 percent oppose doing so and 33 percent held no opinion.
Read detailed results the Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll. The poll was conducted Feb. 12-17 among 2,589 U.S. adults. The sample was drawn through the Ipsos KnowledgePanel, an ongoing panel of U.S. households recruited by mail using random sampling methods. The sample is weighted to match population demographics, 2024 turnout/vote choice and political partisanship. Overall results have a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points.
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