By james art 
Americans are deeply separated when it comes to the details of President Trump’s collapse of immigration, according to a new NPR/IPSOS poll.
The survey shows increasing approval for immigration restrictions, such as expanding the wall along the US -Mexico border. And many respondents say they support Trump’s call for the mass deportation of all immigrants living in the United States without law.
But at the same time, the most dramatic moves of the White House – the detention of migrants in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, insisting on ending the first -born citizenship for all children born in the United States and allowing immigration authorities to arrest in schools and churches – are widely unpopular with Democrats and independent, even when they were greeted by most Republicans.
“Americans as a whole may be more firming immigration restrictions in theory,” said Malory Newbal, Vice President at IPSOS, who conducted the NPR poll. But in practice, she says, “there is still not much agreement on what it looks like.”
Immigration is often ranked as a bigger concern for Republican voters than others, and this poll is no exception: 47% of Republicans describe immigration as a major problem, compared to 19% of independent and only 9% of Democrats.
Overall, 23% of the respondents ranked immigration as the highest level-a large share than in previous studies, but still lag far from the basic care “Inflation and increasing costs” in 47%.
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Proponents of the president largely welcomed his first steps to limit illegal and legal immigration. During the first weeks of the Trump Administration, she increased the arrests of immigrants without law, terminated the admission of refugees and asylum seekers at the southern border and awarded legal protection for more than a million Latest migrants from South and Central America.
Nearly 1 in 3 respondents said the latest restrictions on immigration “go too far”, while such part (29%) is said to be “not far enough.”
In their bigger part, the Republicans stand united behind the White House immigration program. Three of 4 support the federal means of shrines that limit their cooperation with immigration authorities; Almost so back, using the US military to arrest and retain immigrants without law.
Four of 5 Republicans support the deportation of all immigrants without legal status and characterize a record number of last migrant meetings on the southern border as an invasion.
“So as far as I was concerned, it was an invasion. It was not an armed invasion, it was certainly, but it was an invasion,” said surgery, Thomas Dunkelberger, a longtime Republican voter from Western Michigan, a subsequent way, a subsequent way to A subsequent path followed a follow -up on a follow -up on a follow -up on a follow -up on a follow -up time in an interview. “And that must stop. We cannot afford it as a people.”
But the poll shows that some Trump voters have doubts about his immigration policies.
“I think he did a good job because we definitely have to close the borders,” said survey defendant Maria Rose Paulik in a subsequent interview.
However, Paulik is worried that the White House is cutting off the legal paths for refugees and other immigrants who deserve humanitarian protection. And she does not support the deportation of all estimated 12 million immigrants living in the United States without law.
“There is no easy answer to this,” said Paulik, who considers himself a politically independent and says he is voting for Trump. “You can’t just give a blanket statement to say everyone because you can’t.”
Perhaps none of Trump’s executive actions has met with more opposition than his impetus to terminate the citizenship of firstborn rights for children of immigrants who have no constant legal status in the United States.
According to this poll, less than one -third of the Americans support this proposal, which is currently blocked by several federal judges.
“It just seems like a fundamental right,” said survey Morgan McGi, a democratic voter from southwestern Louisiana. “If you were born here, no matter where you came from, you must be a US citizen. Like, it’s just the end of that, you know?”
Pressing the White House to detain immigrants without the law of the US Navy in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is also unpopular. Only 36% of the respondents approved, although the idea is much more popular with Republicans.
The poll also reveals some wider changes in public opinion about immigration over time.
When NPR and IPSOS began to ask about the construction of a wall along the US -Mexico border in 2018, only 38% of Americans supported the idea. This figure is gradually increasing over time, to almost half in our last poll.
At the same time, support for dreamers – immigrants who have been brought to the United States illegally as children are constantly decreasing. Seven years ago, nearly two -thirds of Americans preferred to give them legal status. Now this figure has decreased in less than half for the first time.
“This is about me about the overall mood that the country is right now,” IPSOS Newbal said.
“But many of these more proposals that are pushed by the administration are a bridge too far. Yes, they are supported by the Republican base. But they are not supported by the US public,” she said.
The NPR/IPSOS poll was conducted from 7 to 10 February 2025 with an excerpt of 1.013 adults online. The survey has a margin of error plus or minus 3.8 percentage points for all respondents.
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