Poll Underscores Voters’ Divided Opinions Over Immigration Enforcement

The Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University, The Harris Poll, and Harris X have just released the results of their latest poll. While it shows immigration is President Trump’s best issue, and that the electorate supports both his border security policies and his deportations of criminal aliens, that poll also reveals a level of discomfort with what they believe are the administration’s methods of achieving that latter goal — and with sanctuary policies.

That poll was conducted between July 6 and 8, among 2,044 registered voters. It has a margin of error of +/- 2.2 points.

Trump Approval

The president’s approval in that poll has “stabilized”, as Harvard/Harris puts it, with 47 percent of respondents approving of the job Donald Trump is doing (29 percent “strongly”) and 50 percent disapproving (38 percent “strongly”).

That’s a one-point rise from last month, when Harvard/Harris showed Trump with a 46 percent approval rating, but it is consistent with May’s polling. Since March, the president’s approval has settled in a 49 percent to 46 percent range.

As noted at the outset, Trump receives his highest marks on immigration, with half (50 percent) of respondents approving of how he is handling the issue (tied with “returning America to its values”).

Contrast that with the 44 percent approval that the president received on the economy, his 42 percent approval rating on “handling inflation”, and the 42 percent of voters who approve of Trump’s “tariffs and trade” policy.

On an immigration-adjacent question, 47 percent of respondents approved of the way Trump dealt with the “riots in LA”, which were purportedly triggered by ICE enforcement efforts there.

Top Issues

Harvard/Harris also asked respondents what they thought “the most important issues facing the country today” were. The leading response was inflation (32 percent), followed by immigration (29 percent), and the “economy and jobs” (also 29 percent).

When asked what single issue was most important to them personally, inflation came out ahead again (45 percent, demonstrating the persistence of so-called “pocketbook” concerns), followed by “restoring basic American values of merit and competence” (13 percent), and — again — immigration (10 percent). No other issue garnered double-digit responses.

Given the historic level of security at the Southwest border, these responses suggest that Americans’ concerns over immigration run deeper than simply the fiscal costs of waves of migrants flooding major U.S. cities and towns.

Support for Trump Policies

Respondents were also given a list of the president’s policies and asked which they supported, and which they opposed.

Besides lowering prescription drug prices for Medicare recipients and low-income patients (85 percent support), the most popular Trump policy was “deporting immigrants who are here illegally and have committed crimes”, supported by 79 percent of those polled.

Yet another immigration-related policy, “closing the border with added security and policies that discourage illegal crossings”, came in fourth, with 70 percent approval, trailing Trump’s efforts to root out “fraud and waste in government expenditures” (72 percent).

Separately, 60 percent of respondents stated that they supported “the administration’s actions to close the southern border” (including 55 percent of Independents but just 34 percent of Democrats), while 75 percent supported “the administration’s efforts to deport criminals who are here illegally” (including 70 percent of Independents and 59 percent of Democrats).

A lesser percentage (but still a majority) of respondents — 52 percent — thought “the administration is doing the right thing in its enforcement of immigration policy”, whereas 48 percent believed that the White House was “going too far in its enforcement actions”.

To be clear: Voters strongly support both border security and criminal deportations, though apparently in the case of the latter, they have misgivings as to how that policy is being carried out (or at least how immigration arrests are being portrayed in the press).

Opposition to Sanctuary Jurisdictions

Interestingly, a solid majority — 65 percent — oppose “allowing some cities and towns to block the deportation of convicted criminals”. That includes 69 percent of Independents and 52 percent of Democrats.

An even larger majority, 70 percent, said state and local cops should cooperate with ICE — including nearly two-thirds (66 percent) of Independents and 51 percent of Democrats.

Given those responses, it’s unclear why Democrats in cities like Los Angeles and Chicago are doubling down on their “sanctuary” policies, given how seemingly unpopular those policies are with the electorate as a whole.

I will note, however, that just half (50 percent) of respondents thought that “public officials who block the deportation of convicted criminals” should “be arrested for interfering with law enforcement”; the other half think such a reaction would be “going too far”.

Biden’s Border Policies

Looking backward, two thirds (67 percent) of respondents described the situation at the U.S.-Mexico line under the last administration as an “open” border (including 49 percent of Democrats and 68 percent of Independents), and 69 percent stated that it was a deliberate policy on President Biden’s part (including 48 percent of Democrats and 60 percent of Independents).

The key takeaways from the latest Harvard/Harris poll are that American voters favor secure borders and want to see criminal illegal aliens off the streets and out of the country. They also roundly oppose sanctuary policies — though the electorate is split over whether politicos who impede immigration enforcement should end up in the hoosgow.