Donald Trump’s approval ratings on immigration slip compared to Feb., new poll shows
Amid slipping approval ratings, Americans’ support for President Donald Trump’s handling of immigration has waned since the beginning of his term, a new ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll found.
The poll, released April 25, completed interviews with 2,529 people from April 18-22, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.1 percentage points.
More respondents disapproved of Trump’s handling of immigration by a 7-point margin, down from February when more respondents approved by a 2-point margin, according to Ipsos. However, the approval is still above where it was during his first term.
The ratings come as the Trump administration seeks to escalate mass deportation efforts, and a Maryland man wrongly deported to an El Salvador prison remains at the center of a growing legal and political battle.
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Americans are nearly split on sending suspected gang members to El Salvador prison
The poll found more Americans (48%) think Trump is going too far with deporting undocumented immigrations than those who think he is not going far enough (16%), while 34% think he is handling it about right.
Asked about the Trump administration policy to send suspected gang members to a high-security El Salvador prison without a court hearing, 47% of respondents supported the effort while 51% opposed it.
The poll also asked about Kilmar Abrego García, the Maryland man whom the Trump administration sent to El Salvador in what it has called an “administrative error.” Officials have yet to make moves to bring him back despite court orders to do so.
Forty-two percent of respondents believe he should be returned to the U.S., 26% believe he should remain in prison and 31% did not know enough to say.
A majority of respondents (59%) disagreed with deporting international students who criticise U.S. Middle East policy, compared to 39% who support it. On April 25, the Trump administration backtracked on its order to terminate student visas, a court filing shows.
The slip in approval on Trump’s immigration efforts at large mirrors that shown by other polls that show Americans increasingly disapprove of his job performance since the start of the term. The poll also asked about stances on tariffs. The majority of Americans disapprove of how Trump is handling tariffs and believe they will have a negative impact on inflation. At the same time, a majority also believe the tariffs will help create manufacturing jobs in the U.S.
Contributing: USA TODAY’s Trevor Hughes, Sudiksha Kochi
Kinsey Crowley is a trending news reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected]. Follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley or Bluesky at @kinseycrowley.bsky.social.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New poll shows Trump losing support on immigration policies
