Most Americans Oppose Trump’s Mass Deportation Plan | Public Backlash Grows Ahead of 2025 - video Dailymotion

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Most Americans Oppose Trump’s Mass Deportation Plan | Public Backlash Grows Ahead of 2024  As Donald Trump pushes forward with his aggressive mass deportation policies in his second term, new polls show a growing majority of Americans are pushing back. From battleground states to border towns, public opinion is shifting—and fast.  In this video, we break down the latest Pew, Gallup, and Ipsos polling data showing how over 50% of Americans now oppose Trump’s expanded deportation strategy, citing concerns over human rights, family separations, and the economic toll on local communities.  🧠 What You'll Learn:  Why most Americans are turning against mass deportations  How this shift could impact Trump’s 2024 campaign and GOP strategy  Real stories from communities hit hardest by ICE raids  What voters are really saying in new 2025 immigration polls   📊 Backed by credible research from Pew Research Center, Gallup, Ipsos, and CNN/SSRS.  🔔 Subscribe for more political analysis, breaking news, and U.S. immigration updates.   ---  ✅ Top SEO Keywords & Phrases Used:  “Trump deportation backlash”  “Americans oppose mass deportation”  “Trump immigration policy 2025”  “ICE raids public opinion”  “US immigration politics 2024”    ---  🔖 Hashtags (for description or comment pinning):  #TrumpDeportationPlan #ImmigrationCrisis #PublicBacklash #2024Elections #ICE #AmericanVoters #USPolitics #PollResults   ---

Transcript

00:00This is where we take a whole stack of sources and boil them down to what you really need to

00:04know, skipping the noise. And today, we're doing just that. We're taking a close look at the Trump

00:09administration's deportation policies. It's a topic that's, well, constantly in the headlines

00:13and has deeply affected so many communities. Our mission today, really, is to unpack all the

00:18complexities. We want to look at public opinion, what people think, examine the reality of the

00:22enforcement efforts, what's actually happening, and try to understand the far-reaching consequences

00:27socioeconomically and, of course, humanitarily. Think of this as, you know, your way to get

00:33genuinely well-informed on this really intricate issue, moving past the simple headlines. We're

00:39using a big report called Deportation Nation, Policy, Public Opinion, and Consequences, plus

00:43some recent CBS News and CNN polls to guide us. Okay, let's unpack this and dive into the material.

00:48So, first off, how did this administration fundamentally approach immigration? What was

00:53the big picture? Well, the Trump administration's approach, broadly speaking, was really

00:57characterized by a commitment to very stringent enforcement and also a significant reduction in

01:04overall immigration numbers. Okay, stringent enforcement, reducing numbers. What were the

01:08key objectives, then? They were pretty clear from the start. Substantially increasing deportations

01:14was a major one, enhancing border security, obviously, and also restricting access to pretty

01:19much all forms of immigration relief. Right, and we saw examples like the push for the expanded border

01:23wall and that zero-tolerance policy at the border. Very visible stuff. Exactly. Those were very

01:29public manifestations of that overall strategy. And there was a key piece of legislation that sort

01:33of put all this into law, right? The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, or OBBA, signed July 4th, 2025.

01:40What made that so foundational? And can you give us a sense of the scale, the money involved?

01:44Oh, it's absolutely pivotal. The OBBA, it allocates an unprecedented amount, $170.7 billion. That's

01:52billion with a B. Wow. Yeah, specifically for immigration and border enforcement over just

01:57four years, running through September, 2029. 170.7 billion. Where did that break down?

02:04So $45 billion was earmarked just for detention facilities, another $32 billion for sort of

02:11broader enforcement and deportation operations, and then a really substantial $47 billion specifically

02:17for border wall construction. That's a staggering amount of money,

02:21more than the GDP of some countries. It really is. It's a massive financial commitment. And what's

02:25also fascinating here is how the name itself, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, became this sort of

02:32battleground. Oh, so? Well, the official naming was clearly intended to project a positive image,

02:37right? But critics, like the National Immigration Law Center, they quickly characterized it as, quote,

02:43tragically misnamed. They argued its outcomes would actually be quite detrimental. It highlights

02:48this crucial fight over narrative control in policy debates. So the OBBA laid the groundwork

02:53financially and structurally. But it wasn't just one bill, was it? It was a combination of policies

02:58that created this aggressive stance. What else was critical? Absolutely. Beyond OBBA,

03:03you had the zero tolerance approach we mentioned rolled out back in 2018. That mandated prosecuting

03:09undocumented immigrants caught at the border. That was a huge shift. Then there was the suspension

03:13of most asylum applications, which drastically limited who could even seek protection here. And

03:19the termination of temporary protected status, TPS, for many immigrants, that stripped legal protections

03:25from people who lived here for years. And looking forward, there's this Project 2025 initiative. It brings up

03:30something really striking using the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. Yeah. That sounds ancient. What's that

03:37about? It does sound ancient because it is. It's a rarely, rarely invoked wartime authority. Project 2025

03:43proposes using it to allow the president potentially to detain or deport non-citizens without a hearing.

03:49Without a hearing. Yes. Based solely on their country of birth or citizenship if there's a time of war

03:54or declared national emergency. It raises really significant notions about legal strategies, civil

03:59liberties, and potentially bypassing established due process for deportations, a very old law being

04:05considered for modern use. Okay. So it's clear the administration had a very comprehensive, very

04:10aggressive strategy. How did the public react to all this? Because this is where you said it gets

04:15interesting, maybe counterintuitive. What do the polls actually show? Yeah. Public opinion is definitely

04:20complex here. Often contradictory, you know. Overall, there's this mix of negative sentiment

04:26alongside really deep partisan polarization. Okay. Break that down. What are the numbers?

04:31So a Pew Research Center survey, this was June 2025, found 47% disapproved of the administration's

04:38overall immigration approach. That was versus 42% who approved. And Gallup data from that same month

04:43also showed majority disapproval. Disapproval edging out approval overall. You mentioned polarization.

04:47Big time. That same Pew poll. 78% of Republicans approved, 51% strongly approved, but 81% of Democrats

04:55disapproved, with 63% strongly disapproved. Huge gap. Massive. And Gallup backed this up. 85%

05:01approval among Republicans, but only 28% among independents and just 2% among Democrats. Basically,

05:06support for the deportation policy is heavily concentrated in the Republican and Magier base,

05:10not so much with moderate voters. Okay. So it's not just split, but there seems to be a trend,

05:15right? You mentioned CBS and CNN polling showing declining support over time,

05:20especially for the deportation program itself. Exactly. CBS News polling about six months into

05:25the second term showed support for Trump's deportation program at 49%. Now, that sounds like a lot,

05:31but it was actually down five points from the month before and 10 points down from February.

05:36Noticeable drop. Yeah. And overall disapproval of his handling of immigration hit 56%, which was a 10

05:43point increase in disapproval for March. CNN polling echoed this. 55% thought he'd gone too far. And that

05:50was up 10 points since February. So a growing number of people, maybe outside that core base,

05:56are feeling it's too much. That seems to be the trend. Just 15% of Republican-aligned adults said Trump had

06:01gone too far, but compare that to 90% of Democratic-aligned adults who felt that way. It really

06:07highlights that divide. Now, this is fascinating too. Against this backdrop of intense policy,

06:12Americans' preferences for overall immigration rates shifted quite dramatically. You mentioned

06:17the number wanting decreased immigration nearly halved. It's a really significant trend. The

06:21percentage wanting decreased immigration dropped from 55% in 2024 down to just 30% by June 2025. Well,

06:30from over half to less than a third. Exactly. And now, 38% prefer current levels and 26% actually want

06:37an increase. And you see this record high 79% of Americans viewing immigration as generally beneficial

06:44for the country. So what's going on there, especially among Republicans, where the desire for less

06:49immigration also dropped significantly? Is it that satisfaction effect you mentioned? That's one

06:54interpretation, yeah. It suggests that for some Republicans, the administration's very tough stance

06:58might have made them feel like, okay, our concerns are being addressed, so there's less urgency to

07:02demand even further cuts. It's like the policy for them achieved its goal, even if the broader public

07:08isn't fully on board. Okay, so that's overall sentiment. What about specific enforcement measures? How do

07:13people feel about, say, using local police for deportations or ICE raids? It's a real mixed bag on

07:19specifics. Using state and local law enforcement for deportations. Almost perfectly split, 50% approval,

07:2449% disapproval. Offering funds for people to leave voluntarily, same thing. 49% approved, 50% disapproved.

07:31So those are divisive. What about things like asylum or TPS?

07:34There, you see clearer disapproval from the majority. Suspending most asylum applications, 60% disapproved.

07:41Ending TPS, 59% disapproved. Increasing ICE raids on workplaces, 54% disapproved.

07:48Okay. And even deporting people to prisons in other countries, like El Salvador, 61% disapproved of

07:53that. But again, despite that overall disapproval, Republican support for these specific things

07:59stayed strong. Very strong. For example, 81% of Republicans approved of using state and local law

08:04enforcement. 76% approved of increased workplace raids. So the base remained largely supportive of

08:10the tools being used. What about the border wall? That's always been such a central symbol. Did support

08:15shift there? Interestingly, yes. Support for expanding the US-Mexico border wall actually went

08:19up to 56% from 46% back in 2019. Up, even with disapproval on other measures.

08:25Yeah. And part of that increase is attributed to shifts even among some Democrats. 27% of them

08:30supported it. It suggests that border security as a concept might have a sort of distinct appeal,

08:35maybe cutting across some of the other divides. Hmm. And what about demographics? Did different

08:41groups view these policies differently, say by ethnicity or age? Definitely. Hispanic and Black

08:47Americans generally showed deep skepticism, low approval across most measures. Asian Americans

08:53were a bit more varied. Majorities actually approved of using state-local law enforcement,

08:58that was 58%, and offering funds for self-deportation, 59%. Interesting variability there. And age.

09:05A big difference. Older adults, say 50+, were significantly more approving of things like

09:10using state and local law enforcement, 58% approval, compared to only around 40% for those under 50.

09:15And that age gap exists even within the Republican Party. It does, yeah. Which might indicate a sort of

09:20generational difference in how these policies land, even within the same party. Let's talk

09:24economics and crime perceptions. How did people think these policies would affect the economy or crime

09:29rates? On the economy, more people expected a negative outcome. 46% thought the economy

09:35would get weaker because of these policies. And 53% expected them to cost taxpayers more.

09:41Highly partisan views here, as you'd expect. Right. And crime.

09:44A bit more split. Yeah. 41% expected less crime as a result of the policies,

09:49while 37% thought there'd be little impact. But again, huge partisan difference. 75% of Republicans

09:55believed the policies would lead to less crime. And this connects back to something you mentioned

09:59earlier, the gap between rhetoric, especially about criminal aliens and the actual data on

10:05deportees' records. Exactly. If we look at the bigger picture, that discrepancy is stark.

10:10The public perception, particularly among Republicans, that mass deportations mean less crime,

10:15seems heavily influenced by political messaging rather than the available data.

10:19Because the data shows. The data shows that while many deportees might be labeled convicted criminals,

10:24the vast majority of those convictions offer things like traffic offenses or immigration violations

10:29themselves. Serious criminal convictions, like for homicide or sex offenses, make up a very,

10:35very small percentage, like 0.58% for homicide, 1.8% for sex offenses in one sample.

10:41So a disconnect between the worst of the worst narrative and the reality for most people being deported.

10:46A significant disconnect, yes. Which suggests a deliberate effort to shape public opinion to

10:51maintain support. So beyond approving or disapproving of the policies, how did the public feel about

10:57how the deportations were being carried out? The approach itself. Well, half of Americans,

11:0250%, believed the administration's approach was too careless. Meanwhile, 39% thought it was about right.

11:09And I assume that also broke down along party lines. Sharply.

11:1281% of Democrats said it was too careless, but 69% of Republicans felt it was about right.

11:17And that perception of carelessness likely comes from all the reporting on

11:21humanitarian impacts, right? Family separations, targeting people without violent records.

11:26It suggests people care about how enforcement happens, not just that it happens.

11:30Precisely. It highlights public sensitivity to the methods and the human costs,

11:35not just the overarching policy goals. Okay, so we've got the policy framework,

11:39the complex public reaction. Let's shift now to the actual numbers, the deportation trends,

11:45the targets. What does this ramp up actually look like in practice?

11:48Right. Let's put it in context. Historically, President Obama actually holds the record for

11:52the highest number of formal removals, around 3 million. Then Clinton with about 2 million,

11:57George W. Bush around 870,000. And Trump's first term.

12:01Trump's first term saw about 1.2 million removals. So lower than Obama and Clinton, but higher than Bush.

12:07Okay. But you mentioned a shift in where enforcement happens. Less interior, more border.

12:12Exactly. Over the last 15 years or so, interior removals by ICE, meaning arrests away from the

12:18border, have actually trended down from about 155,000 a year between FY 2009 and 2016, down to

12:25like 38,000 a year between FY 2021 and 2024. That's a big draw. It is. But conversely,

12:31border removals have shot up substantially, reaching 224,000 in FY 2024. It clearly reflects

12:37a strategic shift in resources towards trying to deter border crossings, especially with high

12:42arrival numbers. Okay. So that's the context. But the Trump administration's goals for the

12:46second term were much higher, weren't they? That 1 million deportations a year target.

12:50Extremely ambitious targets, yes. Consistently aiming for 1 million deportations annually. That's

12:55a huge leap from the historical average of, you know, 300,000 to 330,000 a year. And they requested

13:00major funding increases to try and support that. Have they been hitting those numbers? What do the

13:05recent figures show? Well, in the first 100 days of the second term, ICE reported arresting about

13:0966,500 undocumented individuals and removing roughly 65,700. That figure later climbed past 207,000 removed.

13:18So significant numbers, but maybe not on pace for a million a year quite yet.

13:23Not quite on that million a year pace initially, but the internal goals were definitely aggressive.

13:28ICE initially aimed for 1,500 to 2,000 arrests per day. That was later up to 3,000 daily.

13:36And there was even talk from a special advisor about potentially reaching 7,000 arrests a day.

13:417,000 a day. That's incredible scale.

13:44It represents a massive operational ramp up.

13:46And again, linking back to the public messaging versus reality,

13:50the focus was often on criminal illegal aliens and interior enforcement. But the data suggested

13:56otherwise. Right. While the public talk emphasized interior enforcement and criminals,

14:01looking closely at who was actually deported showed that divergence. We mentioned that estimate

14:05of 100,000 deported early on. Around 70,000 were categorized as convicted criminals.

14:10Okay. That sounds like a lot. It does. But the key is what they were convicted of. The majority were

14:15less severe things, traffic violations or immigration offenses themselves. Very few,

14:20relatively speaking, had those serious felony convictions that were often highlighted.

14:24So again, that narrative shaping seems crucial to understanding the policy support.

14:28Absolutely. It appears to be a deliberate effort to frame the policy in a way that

14:33maximizes public acceptance, even if the reality on the ground is broader.

14:37Okay. Let's get into how these enhanced policies are implemented. We know the goals, the targets.

14:43What are the actual mechanisms?

14:44Well, a huge part is that OBBBA funding we talked about earlier, that $45 billion for detention,

14:50$32 billion for enforcement that provides the resources to scale up.

14:54Right. The money.

14:55Then you have specific policies like zero tolerance from 2018 that directly caused the separation of

15:01at least 5,569 children from their parents. A huge number. And the tracking was so poor that

15:08reunification became incredibly difficult over 1,000 kids were still separated as of late 2023.

15:13Just heartbreaking.

15:14Truly. And then add the suspension of most asylum claims ending TPS Project 2025, even advocates

15:20repealing all TPS designations. And of course, that potential use of the Alien Enemies Act we discussed,

15:26which could bypass hearings altogether in certain situations. It's a multi-pronged approach.

15:30So the OBBBA funding allows for expanded detention at $45 billion. What does that translate to in

15:37terms of capacity? How many people are we talking about?

15:39That funding could push ICE's annual detention budget up to at least $14 billion. That's a 311%

15:46increase over FY 2024.

15:48300%.

15:49Yeah. And estimates suggest that could support detaining up to 116,000 individuals by 2029.

15:55That includes building new soft-sided camps, basically. Temporary, often tent-like facilities.

16:01And more agents, too.

16:02Yes. The bill funds aiming for 10,000 new ICE agents to try and hit that million-a-year

16:08deportation goal. They're even offering $10,000 bonuses per agent, which raises concerns about

16:14potentially lowering recruitment standards to meet the hiring targets.

16:17And military involvement.

16:19There's $1 billion in the OBBA specifically to divert military resources towards border militarization.

16:25This brings up concerns about the Posse Comitatus Act, which generally bars the military from domestic

16:30law enforcement roles.

16:31Wow. So it's not just agents in beds. There are also these

16:34controversial data tactics being used, right? Like accessing Medicaid data. How does that work?

16:38Yeah. This is a really significant development. ICE officials were granted access to personal data

16:44for 79 million Medicaid enrollees.

16:4779 million. Including citizens.

16:51Yes. Potentially including citizens.

16:53Yeah.

16:53The data includes home addresses, birth dates, ethnicities, social security numbers.

16:58It comes from an agreement between CMS and the Medicare Medicaid agency and DHS.

17:03And it's explicitly for deportation purposes.

17:05That seems extraordinary. Has there been pushback?

17:08Oh, huge pushback. Lawmakers, governors, 20 states actually sued, arguing it violates federal

17:14health privacy laws like I pay. Critics call it an extraordinary disclosure and worry it will

17:19create widespread fear.

17:20Fear of what, exactly?

17:21Fear that everyday places, schools, hospitals, churches become risky. That immigrants and maybe

17:26even citizens caught in the mix will avoid necessary medical care or interacting with institutions

17:31because they fear being targeted or swept up in a raid.

17:34A chilling effect. And what about local police? Are they playing a bigger role too?

17:37A much bigger role. The OBBA sets aside at least 14 billion dollars just to reimburse

17:42state and local governments for partnering on immigration enforcement.

17:45Through programs like 287G.

17:47Exactly. The 287G program, which basically deputizes local officers to act as immigration agents,

17:54has reportedly increased six-fold since January. It effectively doubles ICE's deportation

18:00force on the ground.

18:01And the concerns there are about?

18:03A concern from advocacy groups are mainly about incentivizing racial profiling and potential

18:07abuses by local police. Plus, the rapid expansion of detention, like that camp in Florida built in

18:14just eight days for 3,000 people, raises serious questions about humane conditions.

18:19And their proposals to go even further.

18:21Yes. Former President Trump has talked about reassigning federal agents from other duties,

18:25deputizing more local police and even National Guard troops, and potentially invoking the

18:30Insurrection Act to deploy the military domestically for immigration enforcement. It points towards

18:34further militarization.

18:35So if we step back and connect all these dots, the funding, the policies,

18:39the enforcement mechanisms, the consequences seem profound. Let's talk about those socioeconomic

18:44and humanitarian impacts. What does this mean for families, for kids?

18:48The impact on families is devastating. These mass deportation policies put nearly 5 million

18:55families at risk of being broken up. Just since 2011, over 400,000 parents of US citizen children

19:02have been deported.

19:03400,000 parents of citizens.

19:04Yeah. And in 2018, about 5.2 million kids in the US had at least one unauthorized immigrant parent.

19:1285% of those kids are US citizens themselves.

19:14So the impact ripples out far beyond the person deported.

19:18Absolutely. We saw the trauma from the zero tolerance separation studies showed basically

19:22100% of those kids exhibited PTSD symptoms. The parents suffer long-term trauma too,

19:27and child detention itself is harmful. A Harvard study found mental and physical harm in kids

19:32detained in ICE centers, often held way longer than the legal limit under the Flores Agreement.

19:37And the OBBA actually allows for indefinite family detention.

19:40It explicitly approves it, yes. And funds things like intrusive physical exams for unaccompanied

19:45children. For the estimated 20 million people living in mixed-status households,

19:49Trump's proposed mass deportation plan could be catastrophic, potentially cutting average

19:55household income almost in half, pushing many families into poverty.

19:59Okay, let's switch to the economic side.

20:01What happens if you suddenly remove millions of workers from the economy?

20:05Well, you'd likely see severe labor shortages pretty quickly, especially in sectors that rely

20:10heavily on immigrant labor, think agriculture, construction, hospitality,

20:13which likely means higher prices for everyone. Projections estimate that deporting 4 million

20:19people over four years could lead to 3.3 million fewer employed immigrants, but also 2.6 million fewer

20:26employed US-born workers due to the economic disruption.

20:29So it affects native-born workers too. Significantly. The construction sector could lose almost 900,000

20:35US-born jobs and 1.4 million immigrant jobs. Maybe half a million child care jobs gone.

20:41States with large immigrant populations would obviously feel the biggest hit.

20:45What about things like Social Security? Don't unauthorized workers pay into that?

20:49They do. An estimated $24 billion in Social Security taxes in 2024. Deporting them is projected to cut

20:57Social Security revenue by $133 billion over 10 years. That's a big hole.

21:02A huge hole. And over 30 years, it could be nearly $884 billion less revenue, which would actually speed

21:09up the depletion of the Social Security Trust Fund by about six months.

21:13And then there's the sheer cost of carrying out these deportations. You mentioned the OBBBA funding,

21:18but what are the overall cost projections? Experts estimate a one-time cost of at least $315

21:24billion just for the logistics, arrests, detention, legal processing, removal for over 12 million

21:30people. 315 billion one time. Yeah. And then sustaining an operation aiming for 1 million

21:36deportations a year. That's estimated at roughly $88 billion annually. Over a decade,

21:41you're looking at almost $968 billion. Almost a trillion dollars over 10 years. Close to it.

21:46And despite that massive spending, less than 8% of the OBBA funding is actually designated for

21:52immigration court processing, which is already hugely backlogged. It really makes you think,

21:56like you said, when people see ICE raids happening and they know tens of billions are being spent,

22:01they might ask, how exactly is this helping me? It's a valid question about priorities and return

22:07on investment, certainly. Beyond the economics, what about healthcare access and broader civil liberties

22:13concerns? Well, the OBBBA directly restricts access to health and nutrition programs,

22:18even for lawfully prisoned immigrants. Things like federally funded Medicaid, Medicare, ACA marketplace

22:24plans, SNAP benefits. It also cuts Medicaid funding to states and hospitals for providing emergency services.

22:31So hitting healthcare access and civil liberties. Big concerns there. Aggressive enforcement

22:37inevitably raises risks of racial profiling, potential warrantless arrests, and even the wrongful

22:42detention of US citizens or legal residents. History shows immigration enforcement often involves

22:47racial and ethnic profiling, disproportionately hitting non-white communities. The American Bar Association

22:52specifically notes Black and Latinx immigrants are most at risk. And this creates that climate of fear

22:57you mentioned earlier. Exactly. When schools, hospitals, courthouses feel unsafe, it deters people,

23:04immigrants, and sometimes citizens alive from accessing essential services or participating in civic

23:09life. It creates a chilling effect that spreads through communities. Okay, as we wrap up this deep

23:14dive, it's incredibly clear, isn't it? Public opinion on these deportation policies is really complex,

23:19deeply polarized. It's not uniformly opposed, but there's definite sensitivity to the human cost. Absolutely.

23:26It's far from a simple picture. And the ramp up in deportations isn't just talk. It's a reality

23:31backed by huge funding, ambitious targets, and expanded powers. The mechanisms are definitely

23:37in place for a significant escalation. And the consequences we've discussed, socioeconomic,

23:42humanitarian, are just profound. Family separations, potential job losses, the impact on social security,

23:48the strain on civil liberties. It's a lot. It really touches almost every aspect of society. And it raises a

23:54crucial question maybe for you, the listener, to think about. How do we as a country balance these

24:00goals of national security and enforcement with very real, very deep human and economic costs involved?

24:07What does it really mean for a policy or a bill to be called beautiful when its impact is viewed so

24:13drastically differently by different parts of society? It's something worth reflecting on.

24:17That's a powerful thought to end on. We really hope this in-depth discussion has given you a much

24:22clearer, more comprehensive understanding of this critical and ongoing issue. Thank you so much for

24:27joining us for this deep dive. We encourage you to keep exploring these important topics.

Most Americans Oppose Trump’s Mass Deportation Plan | Public Backlash Grows Ahead of 2025

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