More Democrats Now Back Mass Deportations: Poll
A new Harvard/Harris poll shows 80% of registered voters support deporting illegal immigrants who committed crimes, up five points from April, with Democratic support rising eight points to 71%.
The Harvard University/Harris poll shows that 80% of registered voters now back deporting illegal immigrants who have committed crimes, according to New York Post. That figure represents a five-point increase from April, when 75% of respondents supported removing criminal aliens.
The upward trend cuts across party lines, though Democrats registered the most dramatic shift. Support among Democratic voters jumped eight points in a single month, rising from 63% in April to 71% in May. This comes despite many Democrats having previously opposed President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement measures.
Republican support remained high and essentially stable, edging up from 89% in April to 90% in May. Among independents, backing for criminal alien deportations climbed from 73% to 79% over the same period.
Broad Deportation Plans Gain Ground
When asked about deporting all illegal immigrants regardless of criminal history, 56% of voters expressed support, a modest one-point uptick from April. The breakdown by party affiliation reveals some surprising dynamics.
Democratic support for mass deportations of all illegal aliens rose four points, from 33% in April to 37% in May. Independent voters showed similar growth, with backing increasing from 49% to 53%.
In an unexpected reversal, Republican support for deporting all illegal immigrants actually declined from 80% in April to 77% in May, representing a three-point drop.
Poll Methodology and Context
The Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University commissioned The Harris Poll and Harris X to conduct the survey. The poll questioned 1,725 registered voters between May 29 and 30, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.
The shifting public sentiment comes as the Trump administration pursues an unprecedented immigration enforcement campaign. The Department of Homeland Security disclosed last month that more than 3 million illegal aliens have departed the United States or been deported since President Trump took office.
Of that total, 2.2 million chose self-deportation through a DHS program that permits migrants to turn themselves in via an agency app in exchange for a cash payment and complimentary flight home. Another 900,000 have been forcibly removed since January 20, 2025. DHS has arrested 900,000 illegal migrants as of May, agency statistics show.
With information from New York Post
