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By Dan Gooding
Associate News Editor
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Voters have a mixed response to President Donald Trump's sweeping immigration changes after his first few weeks in office, with less than 50 percent fully supporting the proposals and initiatives, according to a survey released on Friday.
The NPR/Ipsos poll, conducted from February 7-10 among 1,013 adults, showed voters favor more restrictive immigration policies, but no new policies won majority support.
Why It Matters
Friday's poll is one of the first glimpses of voter sentiment across the political spectrum since Trump returned to the White House on January 20 on a pledge to be tough on immigration. Among other things, Trump promised to carry out mass deportations and reverse Biden-era immigration policies that he claimed led to an uptick in violent crime.
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What To Know
The NPR/Ipsos poll surveyed 263 Republicans, 322 Democrats and 306 independents. It covered policies and proposals including the construction of the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, ending birthright citizenship and the mass deportation of migrants in the country without legal status.
No new policy saw more than 50 percent of participants support it, the poll found. Thirty-two percent of voters believe the policies go too far and 29 percent say they don't go far enough.
Among the most unpopular policies was allowing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to go into formerly protected spaces, like churches and schools. Just 35 percent of voters back the policy.
Trump's effort to end birthright citizenship—which is the subject of multiple legal challenges—received 31 percent support, while 54 percent of voters oppose it.
Pollsters noted that generally, voter sentiment has shifted toward more restrictive immigration policies since January 2018. At the time, 37 percent of voters supported the border wall, compared to 56 percent who back it now.
The number of people who support giving legal status to undocumented immigrants has also plummeted from 65 percent seven years ago to 46 percent now.
Voters were also asked about Trump's misleading claims, including that migrants are primarily responsible for bringing fentanyl into the country and that other countries emptied their prisons and mental institutions to send inmates to the U.S.
Most voters said they thought the claim about fentanyl was either false or that they did not know, while 23 percent said they believed the latter allegation.
Though voters tend to favor more restrictive immigration policies, the majority of the poll's respondents—61 percent— said they view immigrants as an important part of the American identity and that immigrants who have not committed serious or violent crimes should have an easier pathway to legal status and citizenship.
The Trump administration has not announced policies addressing pathways to citizenship and experts previously told Newsweek that it would take congressional action to see change in this area, as opposed to a White House policy.
Another survey, from the Pew Research Center from last week, also showed a mixed reaction to the new administration's policies. Around 47 percent of respondents in that poll said Trump was doing "about the right amount" when it came to increased immigration enforcement.
Along party lines, Republicans showed more widespread support for mass deportations, sending U.S. troops to the southwest border, and suspending asylum applications, while more than two-thirds of Democrats said they disapproved of those initiatives.
What People Are Saying
Chris Jackson, the senior vice president at Ipsos, told Newsweek: "Our recent polling with NPR shows that Americans' attitudes towards immigration is murkier than commonly portrayed by political leaders on either side.
"Americans generally want both enforcement of immigration laws as well as humane treatment and legal status for people brought to this country as minors. And while public opinion generally has moved towards a more restrictive position on immigration, there is still widespread opposition to the most aggressive anti-illegal immigration policies (like allowing ICE to enter protected spaces or ending birthright citizenship)."
America's Voice, an immigration reform group, issued a statement on Trump's policies Friday: "President Trump lied to the American people – and now Americans are less safe as a result of the administration's cruel immigration enforcement actions. Immigrant families of all statuses are living in fear, communities across the country are in chaos, and U.S. citizens are being ripped apart from their spouses and parents."
Border czar Tom Homan said on Fox & Friends Friday: "The President's doing a great job. I've worked for six presidents; I think President Trump is the greatest president of my lifetime... Border numbers are down over 90 percent in three weeks."
Republican Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky told The Enquirer: "If I were in charge, I would allow people, if they are not wanted for crime, have not committed a crime, and they've been living here in a reasonable fashion, if they wanted to work, I'd allow them to have work permits. But I wouldn't give them a path to citizenship or a path to voting."
What Happens Next
A number of Trump's immigration-related policies are being challenged in the courts and it's likely the White House will appeal any unfavorable rulings. Congress, meanwhile, is looking at multiple pieces of legislation to further change the immigration system and lawmakers are considering a budget that would boost funding for ICE.
Update 2/14/25, 4:21 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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