Do Americans support Trump deportations? New poll finds shift in public opinion

Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald on Jul 21, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

Support for President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda has declined noticeably in the six months since he took office, according to new polling.

The latest CBS News/YouGov survey revealed that more Americans now disapprove than approve of the president’s approach to immigration and deportations.

The slip in approval coincides with the Trump administration’s sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration, marked by a dramatic drop in southern border crossings, a surge in ICE arrests and a push to expand detention facilities.

“I have directed my entire Administration to put every resource possible behind this effort, and reverse the tide of Mass Destruction Migration that has turned once Idyllic Towns into scenes of Third World Dystopia,” Trump wrote on Truth Social in June.

Critics, on the other hand, have argued that Trump’s immigration agenda is excessively harsh, targeting nonviolent, longtime residents and threatening due process rights.

Here is a breakdown of the results.

Shift in public opinion

In the survey — which sampled 2,343 U.S. adults July 16-18 — a majority of respondents, 56%, said they disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration, while 44% said they approve. This marks a reversal from March, when 54% approved and 46% disapproved.

A similar shift took place on the subject of deportations.

A slim majority of respondents, 51%, said they oppose the administration’s program to deport illegal immigrants, while 49% said they favor it.

By comparison, in February, 59% of respondents favored the deportation program, while 41% opposed it.

Further, when asked who the government is prioritizing for removal, less than half, 44%, said dangerous criminals, while 56% said “people who aren’t dangerous criminals.”

These figures were reversed just last month, when 53% said the administration was focusing on deporting dangerous criminals and 47% said it was giving precedence to non-criminals.

Other findings

Most respondents, 64%, also said that the president’s policies are leading to a reduction in crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border. Twenty-eight percent said they’d resulted in no change, and 8% said they’d led to an increase in crossings.

A smaller majority, 52%, said the administration is attempting to deport “more people than you expected,” while 37% said the government is trying to remove “about what you expected.” A much smaller share, 11%, said it is trying to deport “fewer people than you expected.”

Additionally, 58% said they oppose the way the Trump administration is using detention centers, while 42% said they favored it, according to the poll, which has a margin of error of 2.5 percentage points.

Further, nearly two-thirds, 64%, said Hispanic people are being subject to more deportation searches than others, while 30% said they are facing fewer searches and 5% said they were facing the same amount.

Among those who said Hispanic people are being subject to more searches, 78% said this is unfair, while 22% said it is fair.

_____