These Americans Are Not Happy With Trump’s Immigration Policies

During Trump’s first full month in office, illegal crossings over the U.S. southern border fell to their lowest level in at least 25 years. According to Customs and Border Protection, about 8,450 undocumented migrants were apprehended along the U.S.-Mexico border in February 2025, down from a record monthly high of nearly 250,000 reported during the Biden administration. But while President Trump appears to be successfully reducing the flow of undocumented migrants, the methods employed by his administration to achieve these policy goals are drawing widespread criticism.

24/7 Wall St. Key Points:

• President Trump has upended American immigration policy, and during his first month in office, illegal border crossings have plummeted.
• While a slim majority of registered voters approve of the president’s approach to immigration, public opinion is far more critical within certain demographic groups.
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Some of the more controversial elements of the Trump administration’s approach to immigration include an effort to obtain the addresses of hundreds of thousands of undocumented migrants through the Internal Revenue Service, an attempt to end birthright citizenship, cancelled transit to the U.S. for refugees already approved for entry, and the arrest and deportation of tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants. Not only have these actions upended the lives of countless families and individuals, some may be illegal or even unconstitutional.

While a 54.6% majority of registered voters in the United States approve of Trump’s immigration policies, certain subsets of the population are far more likely to have a critical view.

Using survey data from Morning Consult, 24/7 Wall St. identified the Americans who are most likely to disapprove of the Trump administration’s immigration policies. We reviewed polling results among multiple demographic groups and subgroups — including gender, race, religion, educational attainment, employment status and sector, income, age, voting history, and political ideology and affiliation, among others — and ranked them on the net approval rating of Trump’s handling of immigration, or the share of voters who approve of his policies less those who disapprove. All survey data was collected between Feb. 28 and March 2, 2025.

Only demographic groups with which Trump has a negative net-approval rating for his immigration policies were included on this list. Among these 13 subsets of Americans, net-approval of Trump’s immigration policies ranges from -1.1% to -52.7%.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the strongest predictors of public opinion of the president’s immigration policies are political. The highest ranking demographic groups on this list include Americans who identify as ideologically liberal, registered Democrats, and Americans who voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. While distinct, these groups have overlapping membership. (Here is a look at the Americans most likely to approve of the Trump administration so far.)

For other, non-political demographic categories, the survey’s findings were less obvious. Religious agnostics, for example, disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration by a 1.1% margin, and atheists, by over 40%. Hispanic and Black Americans, as well as students, unemployed adults, and Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 are also unlikely to approve of President Trump’s immigration policies. (Here is a look at what Trump’s presidency may mean for stocks.)

Why It Matters

During his first full month in office, Trump has reduced illegal crossings at the southern border to their lowest levels in decades — but the administration’s means of achieving this outcome has drawn widespread criticism. While most American voters are giving the president high marks for his immigration policies, certain demographic groups are far more critical.

13. Religious agnostics

• Net-approval rating of Trump’s immigration policies among demographic group: -1.1%
• Share of demographic group who approve of Trump’s handling of immigration: 45.4% (29.0% strongly approve; 16.4% somewhat approve)
• Share of demographic group who disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration: 46.5% (36.4% strongly disapprove; 10.1% somewhat disapprove)
• Share of demographic group with no opinion on Trump’s immigration policies: 8.1%
• Trump’s overall, net-approval rating among demographic group: -17.1% (39.4% approve, 56.5% disapprove, 4.1% have no opinion)

12. Americans in the 18-34 age group

• Net-approval rating of Trump’s immigration policies among demographic group: -4.5%
• Share of demographic group who approve of Trump’s handling of immigration: 43.3% (27.0% strongly approve; 16.3% somewhat approve)
• Share of demographic group who disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration: 47.8% (35.4% strongly disapprove; 12.4% somewhat disapprove)
• Share of demographic group with no opinion on Trump’s immigration policies: 8.9%
• Trump’s overall, net-approval rating among demographic group: -4.7% (45.7% approve, 50.4% disapprove, 4.0% have no opinion)

11. Unemployed Americans

• Net-approval rating of Trump’s immigration policies among demographic group: -6.5%
• Share of demographic group who approve of Trump’s handling of immigration: 42.7% (27.0% strongly approve; 15.7% somewhat approve)
• Share of demographic group who disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration: 49.2% (37.5% strongly disapprove; 11.7% somewhat disapprove)
• Share of demographic group with no opinion on Trump’s immigration policies: 8.1%
• Trump’s overall, net-approval rating among demographic group: -5.0% (45.3% approve, 50.3% disapprove, 4.4% have no opinion)

10. GenZers, born between 1997-2012

• Net-approval rating of Trump’s immigration policies among demographic group: -9.0%
• Share of demographic group who approve of Trump’s handling of immigration: 41.5% (27.9% strongly approve; 13.6% somewhat approve)
• Share of demographic group who disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration: 50.5% (36.7% strongly disapprove; 13.9% somewhat disapprove)
• Share of demographic group with no opinion on Trump’s immigration policies: 7.9%
• Trump’s overall, net-approval rating among demographic group: -2.2% (46.7% approve, 48.9% disapprove, 4.4% have no opinion)

9. Black Americans

• Net-approval rating of Trump’s immigration policies among demographic group: -10.3%
• Share of demographic group who approve of Trump’s handling of immigration: 40.8% (23.1% strongly approve; 17.7% somewhat approve)
• Share of demographic group who disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration: 51.1% (37.2% strongly disapprove; 13.9% somewhat disapprove)
• Share of demographic group with no opinion on Trump’s immigration policies: 8.1%
• Trump’s overall, net-approval rating among demographic group: -37.6% (27.6% approve, 65.2% disapprove, 7.2% have no opinion)

8. Hispanic Americans

• Net-approval rating of Trump’s immigration policies among demographic group: -10.9%
• Share of demographic group who approve of Trump’s handling of immigration: 40.9% (29.7% strongly approve; 11.2% somewhat approve)
• Share of demographic group who disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration: 51.7% (40.8% strongly disapprove; 10.9% somewhat disapprove)
• Share of demographic group with no opinion on Trump’s immigration policies: 7.4%
• Trump’s overall, net-approval rating among demographic group: -6.3% (44.1% approve, 50.3% disapprove, 5.6% have no opinion)

7. Students

• Net-approval rating of Trump’s immigration policies among demographic group: -21.9%
• Share of demographic group who approve of Trump’s handling of immigration: 34.5% (24.3% strongly approve; 10.3% somewhat approve)
• Share of demographic group who disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration: 56.5% (38.3% strongly disapprove; 18.2% somewhat disapprove)
• Share of demographic group with no opinion on Trump’s immigration policies: 9.0%
• Trump’s overall, net-approval rating among demographic group: -32.8% (30.7% approve, 63.5% disapprove, 5.7% have no opinion)

6. Democratic men

• Net-approval rating of Trump’s immigration policies among demographic group: -30.0%
• Share of demographic group who approve of Trump’s handling of immigration: 33.4% (18.1% strongly approve; 15.3% somewhat approve)
• Share of demographic group who disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration: 63.4% (52.2% strongly disapprove; 11.3% somewhat disapprove)
• Share of demographic group with no opinion on Trump’s immigration policies: 3.2%
• Trump’s overall, net-approval rating among demographic group: -55.2% (21.7% approve, 76.8% disapprove, 1.5% have no opinion)

5. Atheists

• Net-approval rating of Trump’s immigration policies among demographic group: -40.4%
• Share of demographic group who approve of Trump’s handling of immigration: 28.3% (23.2% strongly approve; 5.1% somewhat approve)
• Share of demographic group who disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration: 68.7% (61.1% strongly disapprove; 7.6% somewhat disapprove)
• Share of demographic group with no opinion on Trump’s immigration policies: 3.0%
• Trump’s overall, net-approval rating among demographic group: -49.8% (25.1% approve, 74.8% disapprove, 0.1% have no opinion)

4. Ideological liberals

• Net-approval rating of Trump’s immigration policies among demographic group: -42.3%
• Share of demographic group who approve of Trump’s handling of immigration: 26.4% (14.5% strongly approve; 12.0% somewhat approve)
• Share of demographic group who disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration: 68.7% (56.8% strongly disapprove; 11.9% somewhat disapprove)
• Share of demographic group with no opinion on Trump’s immigration policies: 4.8%
• Trump’s overall, net-approval rating among demographic group: -56.2% (21.1% approve, 77.3% disapprove, 1.6% have no opinion)

3. Registered Democrats

• Net-approval rating of Trump’s immigration policies among demographic group: -43.2%
• Share of demographic group who approve of Trump’s handling of immigration: 25.6% (14.9% strongly approve; 10.7% somewhat approve)
• Share of demographic group who disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration: 68.8% (57.0% strongly disapprove; 11.8% somewhat disapprove)
• Share of demographic group with no opinion on Trump’s immigration policies: 5.5%
• Trump’s overall, net-approval rating among demographic group: -66.7% (15.3% approve, 82.0% disapprove, 2.7% have no opinion)

2. Americans who voted for Kamala Harris in 2024

• Net-approval rating of Trump’s immigration policies among demographic group: -45.8%
• Share of demographic group who approve of Trump’s handling of immigration: 24.9% (11.9% strongly approve; 13.0% somewhat approve)
• Share of demographic group who disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration: 70.7% (58.2% strongly disapprove; 12.4% somewhat disapprove)
• Share of demographic group with no opinion on Trump’s immigration policies: 4.5%
• Trump’s overall, net-approval rating among demographic group: -78.7% (9.5% approve, 88.2% disapprove, 2.3% have no opinion)

1. Democratic women

• Net-approval rating of Trump’s immigration policies among demographic group: -52.7%
• Share of demographic group who approve of Trump’s handling of immigration: 20.0% (12.5% strongly approve; 7.5% somewhat approve)
• Share of demographic group who disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration: 72.7% (60.5% strongly disapprove; 12.2% somewhat disapprove)
• Share of demographic group with no opinion on Trump’s immigration policies: 7.2%
• Trump’s overall, net-approval rating among demographic group: -75.1% (10.7% approve, 85.8% disapprove, 3.5% have

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