Americans Cool on Trump’s Immigration Plan, Poll Finds

A new poll found that approval of President Donald Trump’s handling of immigration has turned slightly negative since the beginning of his second term. At the same time, support for specific immigration approaches or policies divide the country, according to a ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll released on Friday.

Americans are slightly more disapproving (53%) than approving (46%) of Trump’s handling of immigration. Since February, Americans have grown slightly less approving of the president's performance on immigration. Two months ago, 50% approved of his handling of immigration, while 46% approve of it now.

However, compared to his first term, Trump’s approval on immigration is higher. For immigration, approval during Trump’s first term ranged from 35% to 40%, while 46% now approve of his job on the issue.

On deporting undocumented immigrants generally, around half of Americans (48%) feel the president is going too far. Yet, one in three (34%) think he is handling deporting undocumented immigrants about right, and 16% believe he is not going far enough.

However, deporting international students who criticized U.S. policy in the Middle East is less popular. Thirty-nine percent of Americans support deporting international students who have criticized U.S. policy in the Middle East, while a majority (59%) oppose this policy. 

Forty-seven percent of Americans support sending undocumented immigrants who are suspected of being members of a criminal group to a prison in El Salvador without a court hearing; 51% oppose this policy.

When asked about the specific case of Kilmar Abrego García—an undocumented immigrant who was recently deported from Maryland to a prison in El Salvador despite a 2019 court order that was supposed to prevent his deportation to that country—42% or respondents believe he should be returned to the U.S. One in four (26%) said he should remain in prison, and 31% did not know enough to say.

The poll was conducted between April 18 to 22, 2025, by Ipsos. Invitations were sent to 3,634 panelists, resulting in 2,529 completed interviews.The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.1 percentage points.