Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Growing shares say the Trump administration is doing ‘too much’ to deport immigrants in the U.S. illegally

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents stand guard near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Broadview, Illinois, on Oct. 3, 2025. (Octavio Jones/AFP via Getty Images)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents stand guard near an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Broadview, Illinois, on Oct. 3, 2025. (Octavio Jones/AFP via Getty Images)

As the Trump administration escalates its immigration enforcement efforts, 53% of Americans say it is doing “too much” when it comes to deporting immigrants who are living in the United States illegally. That share is up from 44% in March.

Stacked bar charts showing that Americans see the Trump administration’s approach to immigration more negatively than positively, and 53% say it’s doing ‘too much’ on deportations.

At the same time, a large majority continue to say at least some of these immigrants should be deported, according to a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted Oct. 6-16, 2025.

Overall, 50% of adults disapprove of the Trump administration’s approach to immigration, including 36% who strongly disapprove. A smaller share (39%) approve, including 24% who strongly approve.

How we did this

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to understand Americans’ views of deporting immigrants who are in the United States illegally.

This analysis is based on a survey conducted Oct. 6-16, 2025, among 8,046 U.S. adults.

We recruited people through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This gives nearly all U.S. adults a chance of selection.

We conducted interviews in English and Spanish, either online or by telephone with a live interviewer. The survey is weighted to reflect the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education, presidential vote (among voters) and other factors. Read more about the ATP’s methodology.

Here are the questions we used for this analysis, the topline and the survey methodology.

Across partisan coalitions and racial and ethnic groups, more Americans say now than in March that the Trump administration is doing too much on deportations:

Stacked bar charts showing that more Republicans and Democrats now say the Trump administration is doing ‘too much’ on deportations.
  • 86% of Democrats and Democratic leaners say the administration is doing too much, up 11 percentage points since March.
  • 20% of Republicans and Republican leaners say this, up 7 points.

Hispanic Republicans are far more likely than White Republicans to say the Trump administration is doing too much. This gap has widened since March.

  • 47% of Hispanic Republicans say the administration is doing too much, up from 28% in March.
  • 13% of White Republicans say this, up from 8%.

Among Democrats, the gaps between racial and ethnic groups are more modest.

Views of deportations by party, race and ethnicity

Republicans and Democrats differ on the question of whether – and how many – immigrants living in the U.S. illegally should be deported.

Stacked bar charts showing that White Republicans are more likely than Hispanic and Asian Republicans to say all immigrants living in the U.S. illegally should be deported.

A 56% majority of Republicans say all immigrants in the country illegally should be deported, while 39% say some should. Just 4% say none should.

In contrast, 62% of Democrats say some immigrants in the country illegally should be deported, while 30% say none should. Just 8% say all should.

There are also sizable differences in these views by race and ethnicity within the two coalitions, particularly among Republicans.

White Republicans (63%) are far more likely than Hispanic (28%) and Asian (38%) Republicans to say all immigrants in the country illegally should be deported.

There is less variation among Democrats. Half or more White, Black, Hispanic and Asian Democrats say that some immigrants living in the U.S. illegally should be deported.

In both parties, Hispanic adults are more likely than those in other racial and ethnic groups to say none of the immigrants in the U.S. illegally should be deported.

For a deeper look at the conditions under which Americans said immigrants in the country illegally should be deported, read our report from March.

Concerns about deportations rise, especially among Democrats and Latinos

In March, 19% of U.S. adults said they worried a lot or some that they, a family member or a close friend could be deported. As of October, 26% say this.

Line charts showing that Democrats, Hispanic adults are more likely than others to worry about personal impacts of deportations.

Democrats remain far more likely than Republicans to express this concern (41% vs. 10%).

While concerns have risen across most racial and ethnic groups, they remain highest among Latinos. About half (52%) now say they are worried that someone close to them could be deported, up from 42% in March.

About six-in-ten Latinos (59%) say Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has conducted arrests or raids in their area in recent months. This is higher than the shares of Asian (47%), Black (39%) or White (38%) adults who say this has occurred in their local communities.

Latinos in both parties are more worried than other groups about personal impacts of deportations

A dot plot showing that, in both parties, Hispanic adults are more likely than others to be worried about deportations.

In both partisan groups, Hispanic adults stand out for their concerns about how deportations could affect them or people they know.

For example, Hispanic Republicans (35%) are much more likely than White Republicans (5%) to say they worry a lot or some about someone close to them being deported. They’re also about twice as likely as Asian Republicans (16%) to express this view.

In addition, 64% of Hispanic Democrats say they worry a lot or some about deportations impacting them. Much smaller shares of White (33%), Black (35%), or Asian (37%) Democrats say the same.

Related: Majorities of Latinos Disapprove of Trump and His Policies on Immigration, Economy

Note: Research Associate Luis Noe-Bustamante contributed to this analysis. Here are the questions we used for this analysis, the topline and the survey methodology.