President Trump is finding out that there is a significant difference between policy and practice when it comes to immigration.
A Pew Research Poll two months before the 2024 election found that six in ten voters said immigration was a very important issue to them. That was a winning issue for Trump who promised tightened border security and mass deportation.
That support carried over into the early months of Trump’s second term as border crossings fell to record lows. It represented a fulfillment of one aspect of his campaign promises on immigration.
However, the mass deportations have been a different story.
The shooting deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by ICE agents in Minneapolis have sent shock waves throughout the nation. It is one thing to stop people from illegally crossing the border, but it is quite another when armed agents of the government shoot American citizens at point-blank range.
Trump administration representatives made matters worse by lying about the circumstances of the shootings and blaming the victims. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem initially suggested the shooting of Pretti was justified, claiming he attacked officers and “wished to inflict harm.”
Reasonable citizens watched the videos and concluded for themselves that neither Pretti nor Good looked like “domestic terrorists.” Noem has backed away from her earlier statements and Trump, realizing he’s losing support, has put border czar Tom Homan in charge of the Minneapolis operations in hopes of lowering the temperature.
The specter of heavily armed and masked agents rounding up individuals and shoving them into vehicles is unnerving. It looks profoundly un-American. Ironically, the actions of an overzealous police state are exactly what the far right always warns about. Even the National Rifle Association pushed back on administration statements questioning Pretti’s right to carry a gun.
The polls now reflect a significant shift in America’s views of Trump on immigration and border security. For example:
A Reuters Poll after the shootings found that just 39 percent approve of the job Trump is doing on immigration, while 53 percent disapprove. Fifty-eight percent say ICE agents have gone “too far” in their crackdown.
A YouGov Poll found that 55 percent of Americans have very little confidence in ICE. Independents, who helped elect Trump made the biggest swing. Sixty-seven percent say they have little confidence in ICE, up from 49 percent a month ago.
Even a poll by Fox News determined that most voters questioned ICE tactics. Fifty-nine percent characterized ICE as “too aggressive,” an increase of ten percentage points from last July. Only 29 percent said ICE “almost always” carries out Trump’s pledge to remove illegals with criminal records.
Mass deportations cast a wide net. Few would argue with rounding up hardened criminals who are in the country illegally and shipping them out. However, research shows serious offenders make up only a fraction of the detainees, which is counter to the Trump administration’s claims that the mass deportations are focusing on the worst of the worst.
Syracuse University professor Austin Kocher tracks ICE data, and his findings were reported in a Wall Street Journal editorial. “Between September 21, 2025, and Jan. 7, 2026, single-day ICE detentions increased 11,296. But only 902 of those were convicted criminals, 2,273 had pending criminal charges, and 8,121 were other immigrant violators.”
Trump understood during the campaign that border security and illegal immigration were an issue that resonated with most Americans, and he has followed through on his promises. However, the ugly and violent practice of mass deportation has been a tragic failure that has turned most Americans against Trump on the issue.