Mass Deportations Quickly Became Wildly Unpopular (POLL)

A new poll shows 52% of Americans now say the ICE funding surge has gone too far as voters still back due process and legal pathways—even with widening partisan splits.

WASHINGTON — Americans broadly reject punitive immigration measures and favor legal pathways and due process protections, even as partisan splits grow sharper under President Trump’s second-term policies, according to PRRI’s 2025 American Values Survey released last week. A slim majority also says the administration’s push to expand ICE enforcement resources has gone too far, underscoring a national backlash to hard-edge tactics alongside continued polarization on border and immigration policy priorities.

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Direction and salience

Most Americans say the federal government is dealing with undocumented immigrants in the wrong direction, with 57% expressing dissatisfaction overall and overwhelming majorities of Democrats and independents holding that view while most Republicans say things are headed right, 81% to 18%. Immigration ranks as a top-tier concern for Republicans, with 56% calling it a critical issue, compared with 43% of Americans overall and 36% of Democrats, reflecting a durable salience gap across party lines.

ICE funding and enforcement

A majority of Americans, 52%, say an increase in funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to speed arrests, detention, and deportations has gone too far, including 85% of Democrats and 59% of independents, compared with just 15% of Republicans who say the same. Hispanic Protestants are a notable exception within conservative-leaning faith communities, with 57% saying the ICE funding expansion has gone too far, highlighting an intra-religious divide that contrasts with views among white evangelical Protestants and other white Christian groups.

Identity masking and internment camps

Nearly six in ten Americans, 58%, agree ICE officers should not conceal their identity with masks or use unmarked vehicles during arrests, including 84% of Democrats and 64% of independents, while only 31% of Republicans agree with prohibiting such practices. Americans also reject the idea of internment camps for undocumented immigrants by a 58% to 37% margin, though Republican support stands out at 69% agreement compared with just 32% of independents and 13% of Democrats, indicating stark partisan asymmetry on detention powers.

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Due process and mass deportation proposals

Two-thirds of Americans, 65%, oppose deporting undocumented immigrants to foreign prisons in countries like El Salvador, Rwanda, or Libya without allowing them to challenge their deportation in court, while 32% favor the policy and Republican support remains a clear outlier at 62% favor. Similarly, 63% oppose arresting and detaining undocumented immigrants who have lived in the U.S. with no criminal record, compared with 33% who favor it, and Republicans are the only major group with majority support for those arrests and detentions at 61%.

Pathways and protections

Majorities continue to back core protections and legal pathways, with 67% supporting the Constitution’s birthright citizenship guarantee and 61% saying immigrants should have basic rights and protections, including the ability to challenge deportation before a judge regardless of legal status. Support for relief is robust across multiple proposals, including 60% favoring legal status for immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children and 60% backing a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who meet requirements, though partisan divides remain wide with stronger support among Democrats and independents than Republicans.

Public mood about immigrants

A 57% majority says newcomers strengthen American society, down from 63% in 2022, while about two-thirds, 65%, reject the claim that immigrants are “invading” and “replacing” America’s cultural and ethnic background, a view that is far more prevalent among Republicans than Democrats or independents. These opinion baselines frame a broader public tilt toward pluralism and civil-rights guarantees that coexists with hardened partisan rhetoric about border threats and cultural change.

Evaluating Trump on immigration

On job performance, Americans remain more negative than positive about the President’s handling of immigration, with 54% disapproving and 43% approving overall, including approval from 86% of Republicans, 37% of independents, and 10% of Democrats, mirroring broader divides on border and enforcement. Views of the President’s handling of the border are nearly identical, with 52% disapproving and 44% approving, reinforcing the pattern of partisan sorting rather than consensus movement on policy direction.

Findings come from PRRI’s 16th annual American Values Survey conducted online from August 15 to September 8, with trend comparisons drawn from PRRI surveys dating back to 2011 on key immigration and identity measures. Figure captions throughout the report reference the August–September 2025 field window, anchoring this year’s results against past PRRI benchmarks on immigration salience, enforcement preferences, and rights protections.

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