There's a dynamic playing out right now in American politics that should make Democrats deeply uncomfortable — and one that, if Republicans aren't careful, could hand them a problem heading into the midterms. It’s about immigration. Democrats have spent years pretending that border security and immigration enforcement were racist. But that message isn’t resonating. But that doesn’t mean it’s all good news for Trump.
The question isn't whether Americans want the border chaos cleaned up. Most of them do. The question is whether the political will to see it through survives the inevitable friction that comes with actually doing it, especially when it’s met with Democrat resistance.
A new Reuters/Ipsos poll released Thursday confirms what President Trump has said all along: Americans want illegal immigrants deported. Sixty-one percent of respondents said they support deporting unauthorized immigrants — including a staggering 92% of Republicans. Trump ran on this in 2024 and won. The people spoke. Now his administration is doing what it said it would do.
On this issue, Democrats are deeply out of step with the broader public. There’s no denying that. Sixty-one percent of Democrats said they do not support deporting illegal immigrants, compared to just 7% of Republicans who oppose deportations.
But the poll isn't all good news for Trump and the GOP, and intellectual honesty demands that we acknowledge it.
Around 60% of Americans — including about one-fifth of Republicans and nine in ten Democrats — believe immigration agents have gone too far in their enforcement actions. Among independents, that number jumps to 65%. Those independent voters are the entire ballgame in November.
Now, of course, we all know that a big part of the problem is actually due to blue-state politicians and their sanctuary policies. Sanctuary cities and states have systematically blocked local law enforcement from cooperating with ICE, forcing federal agents to engage with agitators when they shouldn’t have to. When ICE has to operate without local support and intelligence, enforcement becomes blunter, more chaotic, and often violent. The optics of these incidents are bad, and that’s exactly what the left wants the public to see. This poll appears to reflect the reality that Americans see the footage and wince, even when they agree with the underlying goal.
Related: Even CNN Admits That Democrats Are in Big Trouble on This Key Issue
The political damage is showing up in the numbers across key demographics. According to the poll, Trump's approval rating among Hispanic Americans has dropped 7 points to 29% since last year. Among black Americans, it's down 2 points to 14%, and among white Americans, it's fallen 4 points to 49%. Seventy-four percent of black respondents and 72% of Hispanic respondents said they disapprove of how the administration is handling deportations, compared to 51% of white respondents. These are communities where Trump made real gains in 2024, and those gains are eroding.
Even inside the Republican coalition, cracks are visible. Among Republicans who support deportations — the overwhelming majority — 23% said they're uncomfortable with the tactics currently being used. That's not nothing.
The takeaway is straightforward: Trump's mandate on immigration is real, and it's broad. The American people elected him to fix the border disaster Biden created, and the majority still wants that job done. The challenge now is to execute it in a way that keeps 61% on board while not hemorrhaging the independents who will decide control of Congress in November.
