WASHINGTON:
Fresh polls released on Sunday indicate that public support for President Donald Trump’s tough stance on illegal immigration is waning, even as he completes six months of his second term in office.
Trump, who won last year’s election partly by promising a massive deportation campaign, has faced criticism for his often inflammatory rhetoric, referring to undocumented migrants as “savages” and “animals” while vowing to crack down on illegal immigration.
However, recent surveys by CNN and CBS reveal that a majority of Americans are no longer in favour of his aggressive deportation measures. According to CNN, 55 percent of respondents now believe that the raids carried out by immigration authorities have gone too far. This marks a sharp increase of 10 percent compared to a similar poll conducted in February, shortly after he returned to power.
The same poll highlighted that 57 percent of Americans oppose Trump’s proposal to build mass detention centres for migrants, with only 26 percent supporting the idea.
A separate CBS News survey echoed these findings, showing that 56 percent of respondents think the administration is targeting migrants who pose no threat to public safety, up from 47 percent last month. Approval for Trump’s overall immigration policies has dropped to 49 percent, down from 54 percent last month and 59 percent in February.
Despite this decline in broader public support, Trump’s deportation policies remain overwhelmingly popular within his Republican base, with 91 percent expressing approval. Among independents, however, opposition stands at 59 percent, while 86 percent of Democrats reject the deportation measures.
As he marked six months of his second term, President Trump spent part of the day at his golf club in Virginia and took to social media to hail what he described as “one of the most consequential periods of any President.” Writing on Truth Social, he declared, “Six months is not a long time to have totally revived a major Country,” adding that a year ago, the United States was “dead, with almost no hope of revival,” but was now the “most respected Country anywhere in the World.”
Nonetheless, his overall approval ratings continue to slide. The CBS News poll shows that only 42 percent of Americans currently approve of Trump’s performance as president, compared to 53 percent in February.
