Should illegal migrants get legal status? Views shifted in past year, poll finds

When it comes to undocumented immigrants, public opinion has shifted significantly in recent months, with a growing share of Americans favoring a pathway to citizenship, according to new polling.

In the latest Quinnipiac University poll released June 26, respondents were asked whether most undocumented immigrants in the U.S. should be deported or given a pathway to legal status.

Nearly two-thirds of respondents, 64%, said that most should be granted a path to citizenship, while 31% said they should be deported.

These results mark a sizable change from a December poll, conducted shortly before President Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

In that poll, 55% of respondents preferred a pathway to legal status, while 36% preferred deportations, resulting in a 14-point swing.

“Keep a path open for undocumented immigrants to stay in the U.S. legally, say voters, who are unhappy with the way deportations are being handled,” Quinnipiac polling analyst Tim Malloy said in a statement.

In the latest survey — fielded June 22-24 with 979 registered voters — a major partisan divide also emerged.

Majorities of Democrats and independents — 89% and 71%, respectively — said they favored a route to legal status, while most Republicans, 61%, favored deportations.

The survey also found that Trump is underwater on his handling of deportations and immigration.

When it comes to deportations, 59% of respondents disapproved of the president’s actions — the highest disapproval rating across seven issues surveyed. Meanwhile, 39% said they approve.

The results were similar for immigration, with 57% of respondents signaling their disapproval with the president and 41% expressing approval.

The poll, which has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, comes as Trump has made deporting undocumented immigrants one of his administration’s top policy priorities.

As of late June, the administration had deported more than 207,000 people from the country, the Department of Homeland Security told Time. For context, during fiscal year 2024, the government deported 271,484 people.

On June 26, Trump vowed to “dramatically increase deportations to a bare minimum of one million illegal aliens per year,” adding, “what we’re doing is we’re really going after the criminal aliens, of which we have plenty to work with.”

However, government data indicates the administration has also targeted immigrants with no criminal charges.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) records reveal that “the number of people arrested by ICE with no other criminal charges or convictions and then detained rose from about 860 in January to 7,800 this month - an increase of more than 800%,” according to Reuters.

Some immigrants without criminal records were among those deported to a maximum security prison in El Salvador, according to the Texas Tribune, which led to numerous legal challenges.

This story was originally published June 27, 2025 at 10:27 AM with the headline "Should illegal migrants get legal status? Views shifted in past year, poll finds."