Voters Approve of Trump's Border Security, Reject Liberal Immigration Policies

After years of chaos at the southern border under Biden, voters are seeing what enforcement actually looks like, and they approve.

The contrast could not be starker. A clear majority now says the border is more secure under Trump than it ever was under his predecessor, and it’s not even close.

What’s remarkable is the breadth of support for enforcement. Nearly nine in ten voters back some form of deportation policy. Strong majorities want to cut off welfare benefits to non-citizens. And when Democrats floated the idea of shutting down the government to block immigration enforcement, voters rejected it outright.

Democrats have badly misread the room. Their base may want open borders, but the broader electorate wants laws enforced. Republicans should press the advantage.

This poll surveyed 1,299 registered voters via online panel from January 28-29, 2026. Results were weighted by gender, age, race, and education to match population demographics. The margin of error is ±3.1 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

Voters believe the border is more secure under Trump.

A majority of voters (53%) say the border is more secure now than when Biden was President, more than double the 24% who say it was more secure under Biden. Nearly a quarter (23%) are unsure.

When informed that illegal border crossings have dropped by 95% since President Trump took office, voters give the administration strong marks: 54% rate border security performance as excellent (31%) or good (23%), while only 36% rate it fair (15%) or poor (21%).

Overwhelming Support for Deportation Policies

87% of voters support deportation, either deporting all people in the country illegally (36%) or deporting those who have committed violent crimes (51%). Only 8% support establishing a path to citizenship for everyone without deportation.

Strong Support for Restricting Benefits to Non-citizens

Voters strongly support restricting government benefits to non-citizens:

Barring Non-citizens from Accessing Government Welfare Programs

64% support (43% strongly, 21% somewhat), 25% opposed

Making Undocumented Immigrants Ineligible for Medicaid, SNAP, Housing Assistance, and Other Government Benefits

58% support (39% strongly, 19% somewhat)

5% Tax on Remittances Sent by Non-citizens to Their Country of Origin

51% support (32% strongly, 19% somewhat)

Sanctuary Jurisdictions: Voters Oppose Non-compliance

By a margin of 47% to 29%, voters believe states and cities should not be able to declare themselves sanctuary jurisdictions if they are disobeying federal immigration laws. However, opinion on withholding federal dollars from sanctuary jurisdictions is more divided: 40% support (26% strongly) versus 50% oppose (38% strongly).

Alex Pretti Incident: High Awareness, Support for Investigation

Awareness of the Alex Pretti incident is remarkably high, with 90% of voters having heard about it (64% “a lot,” 26% “a little”). Support for a full investigation is overwhelming: 80% support (64% strongly, 16% somewhat), with only 11% opposed.

Voters oppose the Democratic strategy of shutting down the government over immigration enforcement: 50% oppose (36% strongly, 14% somewhat) while 41% support (25% strongly, 16% somewhat).