President Donald Trump believes he has public opinion on his side regarding illegal immigration and the recent riots in Los Angeles, and new polling appears to support that view.
Since Saturday, riots have broken out across Los Angeles in response to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation that led to the arrest of 150 suspected undocumented immigrants, part of the administration’s intensified enforcement efforts. The crackdown sparked widespread protests in the city, which have since spread to other parts of the country.
Despite the unrest, Trump’s immigration policies remain popular, particularly among immigrant communities, according to a new CNN poll. CNN’s Harry Enten noted that foreign-born voters have shifted significantly to the right on immigration in 2024 and 2025 compared to 2020. At that time, Democrats held a 32-point lead among non-native voters—a gap that has since narrowed dramatically.
“Jump forward to 2024 and 2025, look at that shift — a 40-point shift to the right among immigrant voters! Republicans now lead on this issue by 8 points over Democrats on this issue. More so than any other group that I could find,” he continued. “The group of voters who became more hawkish on immigration were in fact immigrants themselves, immigrants who were registered to vote in this country.”
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The CNN findings align with a CBS News poll released just a day earlier, which showed that a majority of Americans believe President Trump’s deportation efforts are focused on removing dangerous criminals. According to the survey, 54% of respondents support Trump’s immigration policies, while 46% disapprove. Overall, 42% of those surveyed said they believe the president’s immigration agenda is making the United States safer, compared to 30% who disagreed.
The CBS poll was conducted just prior to the outbreak of Saturday’s riots in Los Angeles, which have left at least one person dead and caused extensive damage to numerous businesses. In response, President Trump deployed thousands of National Guard troops and Marines in an effort to restore order to the city. “If we didn’t do the job, that place would be burning down,” Trump told reporters Monday, speaking about California. “I feel we had no choice… I don’t want to see what happened so many times in this country.”