Americans think President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown has crossed the line.
A CNN/SSRS poll released Sunday showed that 55 percent of Americans think that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids are going too far. A new CBS News/YouGov poll also found 52 percent of Americans say that the administration is trying to deport more people than they expected.
A majority in both polls—57 percent in the CNN poll, 58 percent in the CBS News poll—said they opposed how the Trump administration was using massive detention facilities for migrants, while 53 percent of people told CNN they didn’t want ICE’s budget to increase. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill allocated a total of $171 billion to the Department of Homeland Security, with $45 billion going to ICE’s detention system and $30 billion to his deportation drive.
The change in sentiment, following months of approval of Trump’s approach, reflects the broader frustration with the administration as Trump demands it scale up its raids. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller set a goal of 3,000 deportations per day in late May, setting off protests around the country as ICE stepped up its raids. Trump sent 4,000 members of the National Guard and 700 Marines to Los Angeles to quell demonstrations over the objections of Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Trump has further claimed that the administration was working to target violent criminals, but CNN reported that most immigrants arrested by ICE between October and May had no criminal convictions.
There is also growing support for protests against Trump’s actions, according to the CNN poll: 55 percent of Americans think that protests against the deportation policy were justified, compared with 45 percent who said they were not. Nearly 60 percent of respondents were also opposed to Trump’s call for the National Guard to intervene.
Republicans, however, still overwhelmingly approve of Trump’s approach to deportations, with 83 percent of party members backing Trump’s efforts in CNN’s poll.
“President Trump’s immigration agenda is hugely popular and has recently received large amounts of bipartisan support,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told The Daily Beast in a statement.
“The President was elected on his pledge to carry out the largest mass deportation in history and the American people are happy he’s keeping his promise. Recent polling shows that 60% of voters support the President’s efforts to close the border, 75% of voters – including a majority of Democrats – support the President’s efforts to deport criminal illegal aliens, and a majority of voters approve of the President’s immigration enforcement."
ICE did not respond to an immediate request for comment.
Trump still touted his immigration record on Sunday as he reflected on his first six months of his second term—while disparaging those angry with him over his handling of files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
“People like Strong Borders, and all of the many other things I have done. GOD BLESS AMERICA. MAGA!” he wrote on Truth Social.
