Since the beginning of 2025, approval of President Trump’s handling of immigration has softened slightly

Washington DC, April 25, 2025—New ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos polling finds that Americans approval of President Donald Trump’s handling of immigration has softened since the beginning of his second term. At the same time, support for specific immigration approaches or policies divide the country. 

For more information on this poll ahead of Trump's 100th day in office, please follow the below links:

Nearly two-thirds of Americans disapprove of Trump tariffs, with inflation a broad concern

More Americans say US should bring back Abrego Garcia, views mixed on other deportation issues

Detailed findings: 

1. President Donald Trump’s approval on immigration has fallen since early 2025, but remains above where it was during his first term.

• Americans are slightly more disapproving (53%) than approving (46%) of President Donald Trump’s handling of immigration.
• Since February, Americans have grown slightly less approving of the president's performance on immigration. Two months ago, 50% approved of his handling of immigration, while 46% approve of it now.
• Likewise, more now disapprove of his handling of immigration compared to two months ago (48% disapproved in February 2025 vs. 53% April 2025).
• However, compared to his first term, Trump’s approval on immigration is higher. For immigration, approval during Trump’s first term ranged from 35% to 40%, while 46% now approve of his job on the issue.

2. Support for specific immigration approaches and policies are mixed.

• On deporting undocumented immigrants generally, around half of Americans (48%) feel the president is going too far. Yet, one in three (34%) think he is handling deporting undocumented immigrants about right, and 16% believe he is not going far enough.
• Forty-seven percent of Americans support sending undocumented immigrants who are suspected of being members of a criminal group to a prison in El Salvador without a court hearing; 51% oppose this policy.
• However, deporting international students who criticized U.S. policy in the Middle East is less popular. Thirty-nine percent of Americans support deporting international students who have criticized U.S. policy in the Middle East, while a majority (59%) oppose this policy.
• When it comes to the specific case of Kilmar Abrego García—an undocumented immigrant who was recently deported from Maryland to a prison in El Salvador despite a 2019 court order that was supposed to prevent his deportation to that country—a plurality (42%) believe he should be returned to the United States. One in four (26%) think he should remain in prison, and 31% do not know enough to say.

3. Few approve of how President Trump has handled tariffs. Most believe tariffs will have a negative impact on inflation, but a positive impact on creating U.S. manufacturing jobs.

• One in three Americans (34%) approve of how Trump has handled tariffs on imported goods, while about two in three Americans (64%) disapprove of this.
• A majority (71%) feel Trump’s handling of tariffs will have a negative impact on inflation in the United States, while 27% believe these tariffs will have a positive impact on inflation in the country.
• However, most (59%) feel that tariffs will have a positive impact on creating more manufacturing jobs in the U.S., while 39% feel tariffs will hurt this effort.
• Americans are more divided on whether tariffs will have a positive or negative impact on U.S. economic leadership in the world. A majority (56%) feel that tariffs will have a negative impact on U.S. economic leadership in the world, while 42% believe tariffs will have a positive impact on this.

About the Study 

This ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll was conducted April 18 to 22, 2025, by Ipsos using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. Invitations were sent to 3,634 panelists, resulting in 2,529 completed interviews. In quality control, 63 respondents were removed for skipping half or more of the questions for which they were eligible or for completing the survey among the fastest 1 percent of interviews.  Two additional respondents were removed for self-reporting an age less than 18.  

The survey was conducted using KnowledgePanel, the most well-established online probability-based panel that is representative of the adult US population. Our recruitment process employs a scientifically developed addressed-based sampling methodology using the latest Delivery Sequence File of the USPS – a database with full coverage of all delivery points in the US. Households invited to join the panel are randomly selected from all available households in the U.S. Persons in the sampled households are invited to join and participate in the panel. Those selected who do not already have internet access are provided a tablet and internet connection at no cost to the panel member. Those who join the panel and who are selected to participate in a survey are sent a unique password-protected log-in used to complete surveys online. As a result of our recruitment and sampling methodologies, samples from KnowledgePanel cover all households regardless of their phone or internet status and findings can be reported with a margin of sampling error and projected to the general population. KnowledgePanel members receive a per survey incentive, usually the equivalent of $1 (though for some it is $2) in points, that can be redeemed for cash or prizes. No prenotification email was sent prior to field. Panelists receive a unique login to the survey and are only able to complete it one time. Two reminders were sent to hard-to-reach respondents. Hard-to-reach is defined as 18-29 years old or non-Whites, less than high school or did not vote in the 2024 presidential election.  The remaining sample received one reminder email. 

The study was conducted in both English and Spanish. The data were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race/ethnicity, education, Census region by metropolitan status, household income, language dominance, 2024 presidential vote choice, and party identification. The demographic benchmarks came from 2024 March Supplement of the Current Population Survey (CPS) from the US Census Bureau. Language dominance benchmarks are from the 2023 American Community Survey (ACS). The 2024 presidential vote choice benchmarks came from the federal elections 2024 election results for the U.S. President while the Party Identification and frequency of internet use came from the 2024 National Public Opinion Reference Survey (NPORS). The weighting categories were as follows: 

• Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45–59, and 60+) 
• Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other or 2+ Races Non-Hispanic, Hispanic) 
• Education (No high school diploma or GED, High school graduate (high school diploma or the equivalent GED), Some college or Associate’s degree, Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree or above) 
• Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West) by Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro) 
• Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000+) 
• Language Dominance (English dominant, Bilingual, Spanish dominant, non-Hispanic) 
• 2024 Presidential Vote Choice (Harris, Trump, Another candidate, Not asked) 
• Party Identification (Republican, Lean Republican, Independent/Not lean, Lean Democrat, Democrat) 

The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.10. The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on sub-samples. Sampling error is only one potential source of error. There may be other unmeasured non-sampling error in this or any poll. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent. 

For more information on this news release, please contact: 

Mallory Newall 
Vice President, US 
Public Affairs 
+1 202 374-2613 
[email protected] 

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