Donald Trump’s Mass Deportation Plan Is More Popular Than You Think

One-quarter of registered Democrats questioned for a new poll say they supported the mass deportation of undocumented migrants—a key policy for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
The survey, by Scripps News/Ipsos, released Wednesday, showed voters felt more certain that Trump would deliver on border security compared to Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, although 12 percent felt neither would do a better job.
Immigration once again came out as one of the top issues concerning voters this presidential election, rating second behind inflation or increasing costs.
Across all voters asked, 54 percent said they “strongly” or “somewhat support” mass deportations, with nearly 60 percent saying they were following the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border closely.
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While the mass deportation policy received support, securing the southwest border and offering pathways to citizenship for undocumented migrants living in the U.S. were seen as higher priorities.
“Given a choice, voters overwhelmingly support a pathway to citizenship over mass deportations,” The Immigration Hub Deputy Director Beatriz Lopez said in a statement to Newsweek. “No one in America wants to see families who have been here for many years separated—and that’s what Trump’s plan would do.
“For the last decade, voters have consistently demanded that our leaders deliver on a pathway to citizenship. The cruel policies of the past have no place in America.”
Mass deportation was announced as a core part of the GOP’s immigration policy for 2024, promising it would be the largest deportation program in American history.
The party says it would target illegal or undocumented migrants living in the U.S., giving a figure of 11 million.
Trump policy adviser Stephen Miller promised a 100 percent deportation rate at the border by bringing back tough policies, including “remain in Mexico” and Title 42 restrictions used during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump has said that the National Guard and local law enforcement could be used to enact the policy, which he said last week would begin in Springfield, Ohio, and Aurora, Colorado.
Many of those undocumented migrants have been in the U.S. for more than a decade and often have spouses or children. They are often unable to apply for a green card unless they leave the country to await a decision by immigration services.
An effort by President Joe Biden to allow undocumented migrants to apply for permanent residency without leaving the country has been paused following a challenge by Republican attorneys general.
Wednesday’s poll showed 69 percent of voters supported restrictions on those who could claim asylum, as well as 62 percent support for local law enforcement being allowed to police the border.
At the same time, 68 percent showed support for pathways to citizenship for undocumented migrants who arrived in the U.S. as children.
Analysis by the Pew Research Center in June showed support for mass deportation had increased by 11 percent since 2021, but again showed that many voters felt there should be more legal pathways to citizenship.
Asked about the poll Wednesday morning, Human Rights First Senior Director of Refugee Advocacy Robyn Barnard told Newsweek that the question of supporting mass deportation was missing key context.
“When the American public is presented with the true horrors of what a mass deportation effort would entail—the family separations and targeting of our communities, including people who have been here for decades—they reject it in favor of a more balanced and humane approach to immigration,” Barnard said in a statement.
“That context is crucial when discussing what Project 2025 and its proponents mean when they say ‘mass deportations.'”
Warnings have come from immigration experts and members of the Republican Party over the past few months who have told Newsweek that deporting millions of migrants would not work and could have a big impact on the economy.
“You’re not going to round up 10 million people and deport them. It’s simple—you do not have the infrastructure to do that,” Republican Representative Tony Gonzales, who represents Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, told Newsweek in early September.
“I support President Trump or any president making sure laws are enforced. At times, you’ve seen President Biden do some of this, but it has to be at scale.”
Some 45 percent of all agricultural workers in the U.S.—950,000 of an estimated 2.2 million farmworkers—are “unauthorized” migrants working illegally on American farms and ranches.
Hector Quiroga, an immigration attorney, told Newsweek that mass deportations of these workers would have a negative impact.
“If implemented, these mandates would create a huge labor shortage in the U.S. and it would make us less competitive in the global marketplace,” Quiroga said. “Employers in certain jobs are already having a hard time filling positions due to the lack of availability of certain employment visas.”
Newsweek reached out to the Trump and Harris campaigns for comment Wednesday morning via email.
The poll of 1,027 voters nationally and 401 in Arizona was carried out between September 13 and 15.
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