Immigration has long been a political strength for Trump, making the new numbers notable. The polling also highlights the difference between support for tougher enforcement and approval of how an administration carries it out.
Donald Trump’s approval rating on immigration and border security fell by 18 points in a new NBC News Decision Desk poll. The survey found 40% approval and 60% disapproval, down from 49% approval in April 2025, turning one of Trump’s strongest political issues into a growing vulnerability.
The figures do not show why respondents disapproved, or whether they oppose stricter immigration policy itself. But they show a substantially less favorable judgment of Trump’s handling of immigration and border security at a time when tougher enforcement and mass deportations are central promises of his second term.
An 18-point shift in net approval
The NBC News Decision Desk survey put Trump’s net approval on immigration and border security at minus 20 points: 40% approved while 60% disapproved. In April 2025, the measure was minus 2, with 49% approval and 51% disapproval.
That is an 18-point decline in net approval. The survey was conducted among 21,995 adults from January 27 through February 6 and had a reported margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.
Polling is a snapshot rather than a final judgment on an administration or its policies. Still, the change from April 2025 exceeds the survey’s stated margin of error, and it comes on an issue that has often been considered a comparative political advantage for Trump.
Approval is not a policy referendum
The poll measures how respondents viewed Trump’s handling of immigration and border security when they were surveyed. It does not establish whether those who disapproved favor more permissive immigration rules, oppose deportations, object to specific enforcement actions or have concerns about the broader consequences of the administration’s approach.
That distinction is important in an argument often reduced to enforcement versus openness. Voters can support border security and still have reservations about execution, tone, individual actions by federal officers, due process or the effect of enforcement operations on families and communities.
Trump campaigned on securing the border, expanding deportations and carrying out what he described as the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history. His administration has framed that agenda as a response to what it calls an immigration crisis inherited from the prior administration.
For supporters, tougher enforcement may be judged chiefly by border control and deportation results. Critics argue that the same policies must also be assessed through the treatment of people and communities, civil-liberties concerns and the conduct and accountability of federal agencies.
Independents appear central to movement
Marc Trussler, a senior elections analyst for NBC News’ Decision Desk, said independents were behind much of the movement in the poll. That matters because independents can be pivotal in closely contested elections, where neither major party can depend solely on its core supporters.
Trump’s coalition includes voters who favor a more restrictive approach to border policy and deportations. A weakening rating among independents would not necessarily mean that those voters have abandoned the goal of stronger enforcement; it may instead point to a more complicated evaluation of how the agenda is being implemented.
The political risk is therefore not limited to whether voters agree with Trump’s stated objectives. It is whether an issue that has helped define his appeal becomes a debate over the use of federal power inside U.S. communities and the consequences of enforcement decisions.
Scrutiny has changed the debate
Recent immigration enforcement operations have drawn heightened scrutiny. Newsweek reported that two fatal shootings involving federal immigration officers in Minneapolis in January prompted public backlash: the deaths of Alex Pretti on January 24 and Renee Nicole Good on January 7.
The circumstances, investigations and public interpretations of those cases remain relevant to the wider political environment around immigration enforcement. They have placed attention not only on border-crossing figures and policy targets, but also on how officers exercise authority and how agencies are held accountable.
That backdrop may help explain why it is too simple to read the NBC result as a straightforward verdict on immigration policy. The poll does not assign respondents’ reasons, and public reaction can be shaped by policy preferences, high-profile events, media coverage and concerns about implementation at the same time.
The White House defends its mandate
The White House rejects the premise that the administration should retreat from its approach. Abigail Jackson, a White House spokeswoman, told Newsweek that Trump was elected on a promise to pursue mass deportations and that the administration is working to fulfill that commitment.
Jackson defended Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers as professional and said their work protects Americans from what the administration describes as criminal illegal aliens. The administration’s position is that it is delivering on an election mandate, rather than changing course in response to polling.
That produces a clear divide. Supporters can view the agenda as an overdue response to border and public-safety concerns, while critics can argue that enforcement goals do not excuse failures of due process or harm to affected communities. The NBC figures do not resolve that dispute, but they suggest the administration’s approach is facing more resistance than it did earlier in the term.
Other surveys show a similar direction
A Reuters/Ipsos poll cited by Newsweek found 39% approval and 53% disapproval of Trump’s performance on immigration. Conducted among 1,139 U.S. adults from January 23 through January 25, that survey reported a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points and showed approval slipping from 41% in its prior reading.
Poll results should not be treated as interchangeable. Surveys use different wording, field dates and methodologies, which can produce different results. Yet the NBC and Reuters/Ipsos findings point in a similar direction: Trump’s immigration ratings appear to have softened.
There is countervailing evidence in the broader approval picture. An InsiderAdvantage national survey reportedly put Trump’s overall approval at 50%, his highest level in weeks. Overall job approval and approval on immigration are different measures, however, and voters can hold mixed views across issues.
The unresolved question is whether the decline reflects a temporary response to intense news coverage or a more lasting reassessment of Trump’s signature agenda. For now, the clearest result is narrower but consequential: approval of his handling of immigration and border security has dropped sharply since April 2025, with independents appearing to account for much of the shift.
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