{"id":464850,"date":"2026-02-12T20:41:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T20:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/464850\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T20:41:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T20:41:16","slug":"trumps-immigration-enforcement-in-cities-is-unpopular-ap-norc-poll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/464850\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump’s immigration enforcement in cities is unpopular: AP-NORC poll"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say President Donald Trump has \u201cgone too far\u201d in sending federal immigration agents into American cities, according to a new AP-NORC poll that suggests political independents are increasingly uncomfortable with his tactics.<\/p>\n

Views of Trump\u2019s handling of immigration \u2014 which fell over the course of his first year \u2014 remained steady over the past month, with about 4 in 10 saying they approve of the president\u2019s approach. But the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research<\/a> also found that the Republican Party\u2019s advantage on Trump\u2019s signature political issue has shrunk since October.<\/p>\n

About 3 in 10 U.S. adults trust Republicans to do a better job handling immigration, while a similar share say the same of Democrats. An additional 3 in 10, roughly, don\u2019t think either party would do a better job handling the issue, and about 1 in 10 say both parties would handle it equally well. <\/p>\n

The Republican president\u2019s core supporters remain overwhelmingly supportive of Trump\u2019s immigration tactics. But there are signs that more independents think he\u2019s going too far. <\/p>\n

\u201cI am glad that immigrants aren\u2019t just flooding across the border, but what he\u2019s doing now in our cities, pitting the military against our people, these are gestapo tactics,\u201d said independent Brenda Shaw, a 65-year-old human resources manager from South Haven, Michigan. \u201cThey\u2019re shooting U.S. citizens in the face and in the back.\u201d <\/p>\n

The new polling comes as the nation watches the human impact of Trump\u2019s crackdown in Minneapolis, where thousands of heavily armed masked agents descended upon the city to find and remove immigrants in the country illegally. The administration announced Thursday<\/a> that it would end its operation there, saying it had left the state safer than before. <\/p>\n

There have also been violent clashes with protesters, including two U.S. citizens killed by federal agents. About 6 in 10 Americans believe that Trump has \u201cgone too far\u201d when using federal law enforcement at public protests in U.S. cities, the poll found.<\/p>\n

Republicans stay behind Trump on immigration<\/p>\n

While about 9 in 10 Democrats and about 7 in 10 independents say Trump has \u201cgone too far\u201d in sending federal immigration agents into U.S. cities and using federal law enforcement at public protests, only about one-quarter of Republicans agree. <\/p>\n

According to the new survey, about half of Republicans say that Trump\u2019s actions have been \u201cabout right,\u201d while about one-quarter of Republicans say he hasn\u2019t gone far enough. Their support for the president hasn\u2019t wavered despite the chaos in Minneapolis. <\/p>\n

Teviss Crawford, a 20-year-old student from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, said he\u2019s pleased with Trump\u2019s leadership on immigration, although he wishes the president could find a way to deport more immigrants who are in the country illegally. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the deportations have been enough, to be honest. I think it\u2019s much too lax,\u201d he said of Trump\u2019s crackdown. \u201cIf you crossed into our country illegally, it\u2019s just not right. You\u2019re taking things away from people who were born here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crawford added that Trump \u201cshould be focusing on violent criminals, but the violent criminals are probably harder to find.\u201d <\/p>\n

Independents largely disapprove of the current immigration enforcement approach<\/p>\n

Despite their strong support for Trump, Republicans are increasingly alone in supporting Trump on his immigration enforcement tactics.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s approval on immigration appears to have fallen among independents since last spring, from 37% in March 2025 to 23% in the new poll. There is greater variability in surveying small groups, like independents, which creates more uncertainty about the magnitude of changes. About 6 in 10 independents now say Trump has \u201cgone too far\u201d in deporting immigrants living in the U.S. illegally, an apparent increase from 46% in an AP-NORC poll in April.<\/p>\n

Most U.S. adults, including independents, have an unfavorable view of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, commonly referred to as ICE. Overall, only about 3 in 10 U.S. adults have a favorable view of the agency, the AP-NORC poll found. <\/p>\n

There is an large partisan gap, with independents much closer to Democrats than Republicans. Only about 1 in 10 Democrats and roughly 2 in 10 independents have a favorable view of ICE, compared to about 7 in 10 Republicans.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving the border shut, that\u2019s OK. But what Trump is doing with ICE and Homeland Security? You don\u2019t go yanking people out of cars. You don\u2019t go shooting people,\u201d said independent Rick Kinnett, a 60-year-old Navy veteran from Crawfordsville, Indiana.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spent eight years in the military. This is not what I signed up for,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is not what we\u2019re supposed to do. This is not constitutional.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s weak numbers hold steady<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s approval on immigration has not moved since January despite a month of immigration-related turmoil. <\/p>\n

About 38% of U.S. adults approve of Trump\u2019s handling of immigration more broadly, in line with an January AP-NORC poll<\/a> conducted just after the death of Renee Good, the first U.S. citizen in Minnesota killed by federal agents.<\/p>\n

The president\u2019s overall approval rating has declined slightly since the beginning of his second term and remains low.<\/p>\n

Overall, 36% of U.S. adults say they approve of the way Trump is handling the presidency. His approval ratings on the economy and foreign policy are similar to his overall approval and functionally unchanged from January. <\/p>\n

Historically, such numbers would push members of a president\u2019s party to distance themselves from him \u2014 especially heading into a midterm election season. However, Trump\u2019s allies in Washington and in state capitals across the nation remain overwhelmingly united behind him, reflecting consistently strong support from Republicans in the polls. <\/p>\n

But Trump\u2019s immigration approach seems to be a particularly sore spot for independents. While he appears to have slid with independents on immigration, Trump\u2019s approval on the economy \u2014 the other signature issue where he\u2019s recently been criticized for failing to deliver on campaign promises \u2014 is similar to where it was last spring.<\/p>\n

And the narrowing of Republicans\u2019 advantage on immigration is a warning sign for Trump\u2019s party. In October, 39% of U.S. adults said they trusted the Republicans to better handle immigration, while 26% said that about the Democrats, giving the GOP a 13-point edge. In the new poll, the difference between the parties is only 4 points.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat he\u2019s doing with ICE is the worst thing right now. I would say the economy is the second worst thing,\u201d said Shaw, the human resources manager from Michigan. \u201cI\u2019m getting ready to retire and I\u2019m wondering how I\u2019m going to make it.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019m blessed,\u201d she added. \u201cI don\u2019t have to hide in the basement because my skin is brown.\u201d <\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

The AP-NORC poll of 1,156 adults was conducted Feb. 5-8 using a sample drawn from NORC\u2019s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say President Donald Trump has \u201cgone too far\u201d in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464851,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,2724,216456,3505,12,793,3138,790,16950,6429,196794,3,111,15887,191965,216455,200479,8638,6148,795,3438,21,19,22,20,25,24,800],"class_list":["post-464850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-associated-press","tag-brenda-shaw","tag-district-of-columbia","tag-donald-trump","tag-general-news","tag-government-and-politics","tag-immigration","tag-minneapolis","tag-minnesota","tag-minnesota-ice-crackdown","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-public-opinion","tag-renee-good","tag-rick-kinnett","tag-send-to-apple-news","tag-u-s-democratic-party","tag-u-s-immigration-and-customs-enforcement","tag-u-s-news","tag-u-s-republican-party","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-washington-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464850\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}