Oh, the delicious irony. While Democrats clutch their pearls and wail about the supposed inhumanity of sending criminal invaders back where they came from, and the lamestream media piles on with their endless parade of sob stories, the American people are delivering a resounding message: Get out. President Trump’s push to deport illegal aliens—especially the thugs who’ve turned our streets into their personal playgrounds—isn’t just popular; it’s a landslide. But as we barrel toward the 2026 midterms, these polls reveal a brewing storm that could either drown the Democrats in their own hypocrisy or force Republicans to fine-tune their approach before the voters revolt.
Overwhelming Backing for Dumping the Criminal Scum
Let’s cut through the noise. Americans aren’t buying the left’s fairy tale that deporting felons is some kind of atrocity. A January 2026 Harvard CAPS/Harris poll shows 73 percent demanding that criminal illegal aliens be shipped out, with more than half extending that to all illegals who have no business being here. That’s no fluke—back in December 2025, the same pollsters found 80 percent in favor of deporting those who’ve committed crimes. Even earlier, an October 2025 Harvard/Harris survey pegged it at 78 percent for criminal deportations, while a New York Times/Siena poll from September 2025 had 54 percent supporting mass removals across the board.
Dig deeper, and the numbers get even more brutal for the open-borders crowd. A Pew Research Center survey from March 2025 revealed 97 percent of Americans want violent criminal illegals gone—97 percent! That’s practically unanimous in a country that can’t agree on pizza toppings. Nonviolent offenders? Still 52 percent say boot them. And a YouGov poll confirms it: 87 percent for violent criminals, 45 percent even for the non-violent ones. Fox News polling from August 2025 clocked in at nearly 60 percent wanting criminal illegals deported, a figure that held steady for months.
These aren’t dusty relics from the Obama era; they’re fresh revelations straight through early 2026. Americans have had it with the rapists, murderers, and drug dealers the Democrats seem hell-bent on protecting. Trump’s America First agenda isn’t some fringe fantasy—it’s what the people voted for, and the polls prove it.
The American people support President Trump’s law and order agenda. https://t.co/ZmKvPd1LpV
— Karoline Leavitt (@PressSec) February 2, 2026
The Tactics Backlash: When Good Intentions Meet Bad Optics
But here’s where it gets tricky, and the left’s propaganda machine starts churning overtime. While the core idea of purging our nation of these lawbreakers enjoys rock-solid support, the execution has some folks squirming. By January 2026, Trump’s approval on immigration dipped to 46 percent in the Harvard CAPS/Harris poll, down from highs in the 50s earlier in 2025. A Reuters/Ipsos poll from late January 2026 put it at a dismal 39 percent approval, with 53 percent disapproving— a slide from 50 percent back in February 2025.
Why the drop? Blame the overzealous headlines about ICE raids gone wrong, like the mess in Minneapolis that turned tragic. A New York Times/Siena poll from October 2025 found 55 percent saying the deportations have gone too far, and by early 2026, that sentiment hardened: 58 percent in another Times/Siena survey called ICE’s tactics excessive, with 61 percent agreeing in a Fox News poll that agents are being too aggressive—up 10 points from July 2025. Even a Politico poll on January 24, 2026, showed 49 percent viewing the mass deportation campaign as too harsh, including one in five Trump voters from 2024.
It’s not that Americans have gone soft; they just don’t want their neighborhoods looking like war zones. A CNN poll from July 2025 had 59 percent opposing arrests of long-term residents without criminal records, and PRRI’s December 2025 data showed only 33 percent favoring detention for non-criminals. The public loves the goal—securing our sovereignty—but the chaotic rollout, complete with masked agents and family separations, is testing patience. Democrats, of course, are exploiting every botched raid to paint Trump as a monster, ignoring that their sanctuary insanity let these criminals roam free in the first place.
Midterm Bloodbath: Immigration as the GOP’s Double-Edged Sword
Fast-forward to November 2026, and these polls could spell electoral Armageddon—or triumph. Republicans have long owned immigration as their ace in the hole, with an 11-point edge over Democrats on handling it in a Wall Street Journal poll from early 2026, ballooning to 28 points on border security alone. Trump’s early successes—slashing border crossings to historic lows—earned him credit, as a PBS News analysis noted, with voters agreeing he delivered on his promises.
But the cracks are showing, and they could fracture the GOP’s midterm dreams. Backlash over enforcement tactics has Trump’s overall approval teetering at 38 percent in that Reuters/Ipsos poll, tied for his term’s low. Politico reports Republicans fretting that the aggressive approach is alienating swing voters, with one in three Trump supporters disapproving of the implementation even if they back the goals. In Texas, GOP lawmakers are softening their tone on ICE, wary of election-year blowback, while national surveys like Brookings’ show ICE’s net approval plunging from +16 in early 2025 to -14 by November.
Democrats smell blood, hoping to weaponize incidents like Minneapolis to flip seats by pushing for funding cuts or policy overhauls. Yet their chaos—remember the Biden-era flood of millions?—leaves them vulnerable. A Third Way memo from October 2025 warns that while GOP trust on immigration slipped from 62 percent to 56 percent between March and September, Democrats still trail by 40 points on border security. Hispanics, key in battlegrounds, are surging toward deportations, up 11 points in a July 2025 Cygnal poll.
If Republicans recalibrate—focus on criminals without the spectacle—they could crush the midterms, holding Congress and expanding majorities. But if the optics keep souring, watch for a blue wave fueled by moderate revulsion. Either way, the polls scream that Americans demand action against criminal illegals, not the left’s endless excuses. Trump started the job; now it’s time to finish it without handing the whiners a win.