The public is showing signs of souring on President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
According to a new CBS News/YouGov survey, the majority of U.S. adults disapprove of the Trump administration’s push to deport illegal immigrants and say that they no longer believe the administration is prioritizing criminals.
The erosion on those fronts coincides with a slide in his overall approval rating, which has dipped to 42% from 53% in February.
Sunday marked the sixth month of Mr. Trump’s second term.
Mr. Trump has followed through on his campaign promise of mass deportations. Deportations have jumped as Immigration and Customs Enforcement attempts to quickly remove illegal immigrants from the country.
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller reportedly ordered ICE in May to broaden its arrests. He wanted ICE to be more aggressive to significantly reduce the number of illegal immigrants who flooded into the country under President Joseph R. Biden.
As a result, ICE is arresting far more migrants without criminal records, angering some Democrats and immigration activists.
The public is also taking note.
The CBS survey showed the number of people who approve of the Trump administration’s deportation efforts has climbed to 51% from 41% in February. Most Republicans, 91%, still overwhelmingly support his immigration crackdown, but 59% of independents do not approve.
The number of adults who say the Trump administration is focusing on deporting dangerous criminals has dropped from 53% to 44% since last month.
The percentage of people who say the administration is more focused on people who do not have criminal records has climbed to 56% from 47%
Democrats are hoping the blowback continues to grow.
“He is spending all this money now on going around and terrorizing communities with high-profile ICE raids, which are not effective, which just turn people against him on immigration,” Rep. Adam Smith, Washington Democrat, said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Conducted July 16-18, the CBS News/YouGov included 2,343 U.S. adults and had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
