Survey and report provided by Data for Progress
Donald Trump is on track to set the record for most deportations in a year by a U.S. president — a campaign that has involved night raids, grueling detainment conditions, the deaths of more than a dozen people in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, and harsh actions against protestors, including the use of body-slamming, rubber bullets, and tear gas.
In a survey fielded from October 24-27, Data for Progress provided U.S. voters with various actions recently taken by ICE agents, and asked whether they approve or disapprove of them. The poll finds that each action is unpopular with likely voters nationwide.
A strong majority of voters (70%) — including a majority of Republicans (53%) — oppose ICE restraining children with zip ties during raids. Majorities also oppose ICE roughly throwing protestors on the ground (64%), detaining legal residents when they go to court for immigration proceedings (63%), conducting deportation raids in the middle of the night (57%), arresting protestors (53%), and firing rubber bullets (58%), “pepper balls” (57%), and tear gas (55%) at protestors.
In a separate survey from October 22-23, Data for Progress tested a slate of progressive immigration proposals introduced by various members of Congress. Each proposal is supported by a majority or plurality of likely voters.
Majorities of voters across party lines support requiring federal agencies to swiftly report deaths in immigration enforcement custody to Congress (76%), requiring immigration officers to visibly display their agencies through badges, uniforms, and clearly marked vehicles (75%), prohibiting ICE agents from representing themselves as police officers or other officials (66%), and requiring the president to consult with Congress when invoking the Insurrection Act (65%).
Majorities of voters also support preventing ICE from detaining, arresting, or transporting U.S. citizens outside the country (66%), requiring ICE agents to visibly display their identities, including their faces (64%), requiring immigration enforcement agencies to admit members of Congress into facilities for unannounced inspections (63%), prohibiting the detainment of children (63%), prohibiting immigration enforcement actions at sensitive locations (63%), prohibiting the National Guard from being used for immigration enforcement (55%), and phasing out the use of private detention facilities and jails (52%).
Together, these findings demonstrate that voters oppose many of the tactics recently deployed by ICE agents and support a wide range of policies to limit some of their harshest actions.
--30--
Survey Methodology
From October 22 to 23, 2025, Data for Progress conducted a survey of 1,215 U.S. likely voters nationally using web panel respondents. The sample was weighted to be representative of likely voters by age, gender, education, race, geography, and recalled presidential vote. The survey was conducted in English. The margin of error associated with the sample size is ±3 percentage points. Results for subgroups of the sample are subject to increased margins of error. Partisanship reflected in tabulations is based on self-identified party affiliation, not partisan registration. For more information please visit dataforprogress.org/our-methodology.
Comments
