Houstonians Are Not Happy With Mass Deportations
A new Rice University survey of nearly 10,000 residents shows 70% say increase pathways to citizenship, not mass deportation
WASHINGTON — Houstonians are pushing back against President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda, according to a new survey by Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University.
The survey — the largest in the institute’s history, drawing responses from 9,800 residents across Harris, Fort Bend, and Montgomery counties — found a clear majority of Houstonians favor increasing pathways to citizenship, protecting “Dreamers,” and fixing what they see as a broken immigration system.
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A City at Odds With Trump
Nearly 70% of Houstonians said they prefer expanding citizenship opportunities over mass deportation or doing nothing. That puts the nation’s fourth-largest city at odds with Trump and Republican leaders who have championed large-scale removals of immigrants living in the country without authorization.
“Houston is home to an incredibly diverse population that includes a large share of immigrants, both undocumented and documented,” said Anna Glanzer DeLisi, a researcher with the Kinder Institute. “The attitudes of residents in these three counties represent the attitudes of 1 out of every 5 Texas residents, so their voices on this issue should matter in shaping policy.”
Moderates Lean Pro-Immigrant
The results show that politically moderate and slightly partisan Houstonians lean toward pro-immigrant positions, siding with liberals in opposing Trump’s preference for mass deportation. Local conservatives, however, were split — a notable departure from the Republican Party’s national leadership, which has embraced Trump’s hardline stance.
Four out of five respondents across the political spectrum agreed the U.S. immigration system “is not working well.”
Support for Dreamers, but Nuance on Crime
About three-quarters of Houstonians oppose deporting adults who were brought to the U.S. as children and have lived here for decades, underscoring strong local support for “Dreamers.”
But residents drew sharper lines when immigrants were accused of crimes. Nearly 70% said they supported deporting someone without legal status who was arrested on a drunken driving charge.
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The Stakes for Houston
The Migration Policy Institute estimates more than 500,000 unauthorized immigrants lived in the Houston metro area in 2019, with roughly 340,000 holding jobs and nearly 100,000 working in construction. Those workers make up a critical part of the region’s economy.
“Undocumented individuals contribute at least $2.4 billion in taxes to the state each year, and about one-quarter of those individuals are in the Houston area,” said Dan Potter, director of survey research at the Houston Population Research Center.
Mass deportations, researchers warn, would ripple far beyond individual families — weakening Houston’s workforce, reducing its tax base, and even undercutting Texas’ political power in Congress after the 2030 Census.
A Divided but Clear Signal
While some Houstonians back stricter enforcement, the survey’s overarching message is unambiguous: most residents want lawmakers to move toward legalization and citizenship, not mass removal.
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