By Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald
Most Americans believe immigration authorities under President Donald Trump have overstepped the line, according to new polling.
In the latest Marist poll, 54% of respondents said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has “gone too far” in enforcing the law. Meanwhile, 18% believe the agency has “not gone far enough,” and 26% describe its actions as “about right.”
A major partisan divide was present. Most Democrats and independents — 83% and 59%, respectively — said the agency had gone too far, while a plurality of Republicans, 49%, said its actions were generally acceptable.
That said, strong majorities said they support cracking down on those with criminal backgrounds.
Eighty percent said they favor deporting people without legal status who have been convicted of a violent crime. This includes 91% of Republicans and 75% of Democrats.
A smaller share, but still a majority, 59%, said they favor deporting undocumented immigrants who have been found guilty of a nonviolent crime. While 86% of Republicans support this, according to the poll, just 36% of Democrats agree.
In contrast, 55% of respondents said they oppose deporting illegal immigrants who work in industries like agriculture or food service. This includes 77% of Democrats and 26% of Republicans.
The survey — which sampled 1,381 U.S. adults June 23 to 25 — comes as Trump has made deporting illegal immigrants a top priority during his second administration.
During his first 100 days in office, ICE, which is under the Department of Homeland Security, arrested a “record-breaking” 66,463 undocumented individuals and removed 65,682 more, according to the agency. Three-quarters had criminal records, according to officials.
By June, arrests surpassed 100,000, with daily detentions exceeding 2,000, marking a significant increase from the 660 daily average recorded during Trump’s first 100 days, according to CBS News.
Nearly half of those in ICE facilities have no criminal record, according to the outlet.
The poll — which has a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points — also comes as Congress has moved to dramatically increase ICE’s budget.
Trump’s budget reconciliation bill, dubbed by the president as the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which narrowly passed in the Senate on July 1, contains provisions that would increase the agency’s funding by over $100 billion over the next four years, according to Time.
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