Tens of thousands of people march through downtown Minneapolis as they protest the federal government’s immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis on Jan. 30. A new poll shows that most Americans believe President Donald Trump has gone too far in his immigration efforts. Photo by Craig Lassig/UPI | License Photo
Most Americans disapprove of President Donald Trump’s handling of deporting undocumented immigrants, according to a Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll released Friday.
The poll of 2,600 people found that 58% disapprove of Trump’s handling of the issue, while 62% oppose the tactics of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The poll was taken Feb. 12-17, after the shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota.
Broken down by political party, 95% of Democrats disapprove of Trump handling of immigration, while 16% of Republicans agree. The latter figure is up from 13% in October. Independents feel he’s gone too far by 63%, which is up from 54% in October.
Trump’s approval rating on immigration has dropped steadily over the past year, and is down by 10%. He gets higher numbers on his handling of the U.S.-Mexico border, 47%.
Half of Americans support efforts to deport all undocumented immigrants, the poll showed. In October, a poll showed that 45% were in support of expanded ICE operations and 46% were opposed. Today, Americans opposed the expanded operations by 53% to 40%.
A large number — 77% — believe that a warrant from a judge is necessary to enter a person’s home, while 20% believe an administrative warrant is enough.
And though the administration says it is targeting “the worst of the worst,” about 33% of Americans surveyed believe that.
The Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll was conducted Feb. 12-17, 2026, among 2,589 U.S. adults with a margin of error of 2 percentage points.
This week in Washington
President Donald Trump speaks alongside Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Lee Zeldin in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Thursday. The Trump administration has announced the finalization of rules that revoke the EPA’s ability to regulate climate pollution by ending the endangerment finding that determined six greenhouse gases could be categorized as dangerous to human health. Photo by Will Oliver/UPI | License Photo
