There are many things that are important to Donald Trump voters. They believe that as a businessman, he has the best resume to run the country’s economy. They believe that his being in power is a response to a country oversaturated with political correctness. And they believe that he is the best-qualified person to solve the country’s immigration system.
Trump promised to do that by deporting millions of undocumented immigrants from the United States. He also promised to focus on only the most violent offenders. According to new reports, thousands of non-criminal migrants are being arrested by ICE officers as well.
Immigration Was One of the Main Reasons Trump Won in 2024
The hard stance on immigration helped propel Donald Trump into the White House in 2024. He was helped by videos of migrants streaming across the border as Republicans argued that in those crowds were plenty of criminals and drug dealers.
Once Trump took office, he immediately got to work, directing ICE to arrest and deport people by the thousands. In his early days, polling showed that people, especially staunch Trump supporters, were behind the practice. But those numbers have been changing over the last few months.
Americans Are Seeing the Impact of Large-Scale Deportations First Hand
When Trump argued that he would focus on dangerous criminals, it was easy for him to have support for deportations. But new numbers show that many people with no criminal records to speak of are being swept up in the ICE raids.
As a result, people in areas being targeted in the raids, including supporters of Donald Trump, see important members of their communities being included in the measures. These arrests of non-criminals are putting a human face on Trump’s policies and Americans do not like it. There have even been viral videos showing Trump supporters whose spouses have been deported.
Support For The Arrest and Deportation of Migrants is Going Down
Trump has ramped up his deportations over the last two months, and while he has been doing so, support for his measures has been nosediving. And the numbers have gotten so bad that significant numbers of Trump voters must be among those disapproving.
A late June poll from Quinnipiac University showed that only 41% of those surveyed supported Trump’s immigration policy, while 57% opposed. The support for mass deportations was even worse with 59% disapproving of deportations and only 39% approving of them.
The ICE Raids Are Becoming Less Strategic as Time Goes On
Since it is one of his major issues, President Trump wants to look especially strong when it comes to immigration. Early on, it was easy for him to focus his deportations on undocumented people with criminal histories.
Now that many of those with criminal records have been deported, the White House is pushing to keep their numbers up. That means that many more non-criminals are being swept up in the most recent raids, and some numbers support this, as 44% of the most recent detainees have no criminal record.
At One Point, Trump Moved To Change How Raids Were Conducted
When the raids began, Trump began to hear from people in the business world who were being hurt by the actions. And the President has plenty of experience with migrant workers, as they have worked both at his golf courses and his wineries.
The appeals to Trump seemed to work at first, as the White House announced at one point that it would stop targeting these industries. This announcement was short-lived, though, and restaurants and farms were soon raided again on a regular basis.
Things Changed on Memorial Day
In late May, the administration stopped worrying about which sorts of businesses were targeted and also began to ramp up the number of arrests. Since May 25th, only 30% of the migrants who have been arrested have had actual criminal records.
These raids have certainly drawn the attention of local officials where they are taking place. California has been a frequent target of ICE sweeps, and protests against the administration led Trump to respond by deploying the National Guard. Democrats in the legislature have urged their Republican colleagues to appeal to Trump to end the measures.
Democrats and Some Republicans Have Been Critical of the Measures
To no one’s surprise, national Democrats have been furiously against Trump’s actions. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, on behalf of his party, has repeatedly attacked the Republican raids. Democrats are sure to make immigration one of their major issues during the 2026 mid-term elections.
Most Republicans these days will never criticize Donald Trump, regardless of how they feel about an issue, but some have criticized the current immigration climate. Rep. David Valadao in California asked the administration to stick to its promise of focusing on violent offenders. Rep. Carlos Gimenez believes that the raids are disrupting the economy.
An Important Conservative Voice Spoke Out Against The Raids
Joe Rogan has been an important surrogate for Trump. The popular podcast host endorsed Trump in 2024 and he has legions of fans, many of which are the young right-leaning men that Republicans need to keep winning elections.
The pundit recently slammed the ICE raids, pointing out that so many of the people being caught up in the sweeps are non-criminals who are performing jobs. Rogan opined that this is not what Trump supporters were looking for. Rogan is an influential voice in Trump’s orbit, so it will be interesting to see how the White House might respond.
Trump Will Likely Plow Ahead
Donald Trump knows that his tariff plan was unpopular, but it was such an important part of his campaign that he likely will have to move ahead with it. Like the tariffs, mass deportations have proven to be unpopular once people are hit with the reality of them.
Still, Trump has promised to keep deporting undocumented migrants at a rapid rate. This is a hallmark of his campaign, and it would be difficult for him to stop now.