Trump is losing support on his signature issue, immigration: For much of his career, Donald Trump’s strongest issue has been immigration. His launch speech in 2015, famously, entailed calling for a wall that Mexico would build, and referring to immigrants in the most harshest of terms.
Throughout his first term, while he was out of office, and into his second go-around, it’s been the issue that Trump has been most associated with, and almost the one that revved up his base the most.
But now, there are reasons to think voters are souring on Trump’s immigration policy, which in his second term has involved deportations to a notorious prison in El Salvador and, on Friday, the arrest of a judge in Wisconsin.
Trump Underwater on Immigration in the Polls
The latest Washington Post/Ipsos poll has Trump in negative territory on the immigration issue, with 53 percent of Americans disapproving of his handling of the issue and 46 percent approving.
Per the Post, it’s an indication that “his administration’s hard-line and, in some cases, legally dubious enforcement tactics are losing public support.” In February, half the public supported Trump on the immigration issue, but that number has gone down as his presidency has continued.
Republicans remain supportive of the president on immigration, however. Per the Post and Ipsos’ poll, “90 percent of Democrats, 56 percent of independents and 11 percent of Republicans” disapprove of his handling of immigration.
The Post/Ipsos poll found that in the matter of Kilmar Abrego García, the Maryland man whom courts have found the Trump Administration wrongly deported to El Salvador, 42 percent of those polled say they want him returned to the U.S., versus 26 percent who want him to remain in El Salvador.
Around 30 percent of respondents, however, “don’t know enough to have an opinion” on that particular case.
In that poll, 53 percent of Republicans say they want Garcia to remain in prison in El Salvador.
It’s Not Just That One Poll
The RealClearPolling average of polls of Trump on the immigration issue finds Trump in positive territory on that issue, with a 3.1-point spread, which is much better than he polls on most other issues.
However, the last three polls on that issue — from Daily Kos/Civiqs, FOX News, and Economist/YouGov — all showed the president in negative territory on immigration. The Reuters/Ipsos poll is not included in that average.
Trump’s overall job approval rating, on RCP, is now at a spread of -5.8, with the last six polls included, even the usually pro-Republican Rasmussen Reports, showing him underwater.
An Easy Result to Predict for Trump
Part of the issue is that Trump’s approval rating has gone down across the board, so it might naturally hit his stance on immigration as well.
That’s what the Post pointed out, in noting that Trump’s first 100 days in office have been marked by “a blizzard of unilateral actions sometimes violating the constitutional bounds of presidential authority.”
However, on top of that, Trump’s declining approval rating on immigration is one of those things where it was easy to predict the popularity would decrease once he started actually implementing the policy.
When Trump ran in 2024, he primarily addressed the immigration issue in terms of securing the border, removing criminals, and reversing the policies of the Biden Administration.
Once he became president, however, Trump had to take action, and many of those actions were cruel, possibly illegal, and certainly unpopular. A similar dynamic played out in Trump’s first term, with the family separation policy.
Also, the disapproval of Trump’s handling of immigration isn’t necessarily coming entirely from those who find the policy cruel or object to it on humanitarian grounds.
There’s also a chance that many voters disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration because they don’t think it’s gone far enough, or because they were hoping the pace of deportations would have gone faster.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
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