President Donald Trump’s team is reportedly discussing other immigration enforcement strategies to increase public support as its operations in Minnesota and other states sour the public’s perception.
After reviewing private Republican polling that showed declining approval of the administration’s immigration agenda, some members of the Trump team have quietly discussed “recalibrating” their approach, an unnamed senior Trump adviser told Axios.
The polling indicated a growing number of independent, moderate and minority voters – the voter base that helped the president get elected in 2024 – are breaking from the president on the issue of immigration.
That group of voters could play a vital role in keeping Republican majorities in the 2026 midterm elections.
"[Trump] wants deportations. He wants mass deportations. What he doesn't want is what people are seeing. He doesn't like the way it looks. It looks bad, so he's expressed some discomfort at that,” the unnamed adviser told Axios.
“Here’s the reality: the President campaigned on and won an election based on his promise to carry out the largest mass deportation operation in history – he’s keeping his promise and the American people are appreciative,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement.
“The entire Administration is working to carry out the President’s agenda and push back on Democrats’ lies, that are often amplified by the media, about our enforcement operations which target the worst of the worst,” Jackson added.
Over the last year, the public has been inundated with stories, videos, photos and first-hand accounts about how the administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement policies are negatively impacting communities and families.
From the wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to stories of sick children being deported from the U.S. to the video of the fatal shooting of Renee Good – voters in the U.S. no longer support Trump’s campaign promise to deport criminal undocumented immigrants.
A recent AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found that only 38 percent of people support Trump’s immigration agenda. Half of the poll’s respondents said the president has “gone too far” when it comes to deporting immigrants.
More Republicans have also pushed back on the immigration agenda. October polling from Pew Research Center showed a nine percentage point increase in Republicans who said Trump is doing “too much” on immigration.
Although the administration claims it’s focusing on deporting the “worst of the worst,” data reviewed by Trace Reports, the New York Times, CATO and other publications found that the vast majority of those arrested or deported by ICE have no criminal convictions.
Yet, the president and his administration continue to push the narrative forward, justifying sending thousands of federal law enforcement officers into Los Angeles, D.C., Chicago, Memphis, Minneapolis, Portland and other cities.
The heavy presence of law enforcement has led to protests, some of which have turned violent, multiple deaths, injuries, city disturbances and more. Democratic leaders have called for the administration to pull enforcement out of their cities, arguing it fosters an unsafe environment.
But the administration has doubled down on its agenda, accusing Democrats of inciting violent protests, sending in the National Guard to protect federal law enforcement and, most recently, the president threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act.
Even if administration officials were to offer alternative suggestions to the president, it’s unclear if he would accept them.
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