Most Americans disapprove of immigration enforcement tactics, poll says

As President Donald Trump prepares for the State of the Union address, a Pew Research Center poll sheds light on how Americans view his immigration enforcement policy. 

The majority of Americans, 72%, disagree with federal immigration officers using a person’s looks or the language they speak as a reason to check their immigration status, according to a January survey. 

Most (61%) also say it’s unacceptable for officers to wear face coverings that hide their identities while working.

Many see it as acceptable for people to record video of immigration officers (74%) or share information about where arrests are happening (59%). 

A smaller majority, 54%, say arresting U.S. citizens who help others avoid immigration enforcement is unacceptable. The same percentage says it is unacceptable for immigration officers to increase their presence in neighborhoods with many immigrants.

The survey was conducted during late January, when 37-year-old Alex Pretti was shot and killed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in Minneapolis. While responses were largely consistent across the Jan. 20-26 field period, Republicans who completed the survey in the days after Pretti was killed were somewhat more likely than those who responded earlier to say recording immigration officers and sharing their locations are acceptable. 

The survey was conducted among 8,512 U.S. adults from January 20 to 26.

Majorities of both Republicans and Democrats say it is acceptable for people to record video of immigration officers while they make arrests. However, Democrats and independents who lean toward the Democratic Party (89%) are substantially more likely to say this than Republicans and Republican leaners (59%).

The partisan gap is wider when it comes to sharing information about where immigration officers are making arrests. Eight-in-ten Democrats say this is acceptable, compared with 36% of Republicans. A majority of Republicans (63%) say this is unacceptable.

By contrast, Republicans are far more likely than Democrats to say it is acceptable for ordinary people to report those they think may be in the country illegally: 77% of Republicans say this is acceptable, compared with just 27% of Democrats.

About two-thirds of Black Democrats (68%) say it is acceptable to share officers’ locations. Larger shares of White (84%), Asian (81%) and Latino (79%) Democrats say the same.

Latino Democrats are less likely than other Democrats to say it is acceptable to report people they suspect of being in the country illegally. Just 16% hold this view.

Latino Republicans are more likely than White Republicans to say it is acceptable to record video of immigration officers (67% vs. 56%) or share the location of immigration officers (47% vs. 32%).

Conversely, White Republicans are more likely than Latino Republicans to say it is acceptable to report those they suspect of being in the country illegally (82% vs. 62%).

President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement policies have received some support, as a majority of Americans favor maintaining a large military presence at the U.S.-Mexico border (62%) and requiring people who want to enter the U.S. to let immigration officers review their social media accounts (56%).

But the survey also finds that most Americans oppose giving immigration priority to people if they pay a $1 million fee (79% oppose, including 60% who strongly oppose), suspending all asylum applications (66% oppose), keeping large numbers of immigrants in detention centers while their cases are decided (64%) and pausing immigration visa applications from people in 75 countries (60%).