Most immigrants in the United States, 60 percent, support President Trump’s efforts at the southern border, where illegal crossings have slowed to a trickle, according to a new survey of immigrants from The New York Times and KFF, a nonprofit that conducts polling and research about health policy.
At the same time, the survey found, fewer immigrants approve of the tactics used to carry out raids beyond the border. The share who think enforcement has been too tough has nearly doubled in the last two years.
The survey, conducted from August to October of this year, provides a rare comprehensive look at how America’s foreign-born population — citizens and noncitizens — views the state of immigration enforcement as the Trump administration continues efforts to ramp up detentions and deportations on a mass scale.
Mr. Trump’s actions at the U.S.-Mexico border — where his administration has limited the ability to claim asylum and has brought down the number of migrants crossing illegally — are largely popular with immigrants. Among the notable findings in the survey, 39 percent of immigrants who disapproved of Mr. Trump’s job performance nevertheless said they support his efforts on border security.
But just 28 percent of all immigrants approve of officers in masks and plain clothes, and 16 percent approve of deporting people to countries where they are not from, according to the survey. Even immigrants who otherwise approve of Mr. Trump’s deportation campaign feel his approach has gone too far.
“Not everyone who comes to the country is bad, but not everyone who comes to the country is good, either,” said Eulalia Lena, who was born in Ecuador but has lived in the United States for 21 years and said she had recently become a U.S. citizen. citizen. “Trump is trying to keep the bad ones out. And that’s good for all of us.”
Ms. Lena added: “Unfortunately, he’s not just keeping the bad ones out. He’s also been targeting good, hardworking people.”
Even as Mr. Trump’s policies at the border prove relatively popular, immigrants are far less likely to approve of the Trump administration’s increasing efforts to deport those living in the United States illegally. About 40 percent of immigrants approve of those efforts.
More of that support comes from immigrants who are citizens, who tend to be more politically conservative than immigrants overall. Still, roughly one-quarter of illegal immigrants say they approve of Mr. Trump’s deportation efforts.
