How Factors Beyond Political Party Identity Drive Immigration Attitudes in Today’s America

A Rutgers researcher and others find that while Americans' attitudes toward immigration differ greatly by party, it is more nuanced than that

Americans' views on immigration are sharply divided along partisan lines, according to a national survey, coauthored by a Rutgers researcher.

Members of the Civic Health and Institutions Project, a collaboration among Rutgers, Harvard, Northeastern universities and the University of Rochester, collected nationwide data - reflecting public opinion in each of the 50 states and not just national averages. Researchers found there are large differences - often 60 to 70 percentage points - between the parties on the issue of immigration. However, results show that Americans do draw important nuanced distinctions.

"The results show that while immigration attitudes are strongly associated with partisan identity, people still make distinctions based on policy details and individual circumstances," said Katherine Ognyanova, an associate professor of communication at the Rutgers School of Communication and Information and a coauthor of the study. "We see that personal exposure to immigration varies widely across communities and regions."

Ognyanova said the report highlights some important public positions for policy makers: for instance, opposition for deporting long-term residents with no criminal records as well as cross-partisan support for birthright citizenship.

"This is a clear signal that the public is not behind changing key constitutional principles in the U.S.," she said.

Between Dec. 18, 2025, and Jan. 27, members of the consortium collected a total of 30,338 from individuals ages 18 and older in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia.

The surveys were conducted by market research technology company PureSpectrum via an online, nonprobability sample, with state-level representative quotas for race, ethnicity, age and gender. The researchers reweighted their data using demographic characteristics to match the U.S. population with respect to 2020 vote choice and turnout, race, ethnicity, age, gender, education and whether living in urban, suburban or rural areas. The project's survey methodology recently was recognized with the Warren J. Mitofsky Innovators Award from the American Association for Public Opinion Research.

Respondents were asked about U.S. public opinion on immigration policy, examining attitudes across:

• Enforcement measures
• Personal connections to immigration
• Constitutional provisions
• Specific tactical proposals

The survey analysis reveals patterns across seven demographic categories - political party, race, ethnicity, gender, age, education, income and urban-rural residence - and extends to state-level geographic variation in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Findings show that nationally, 37% of Americans approve of President Donald Trump's handling of immigration policy, with 21% strongly approving and 16% somewhat approving. Disapproval stands at 49%, with 37% strongly disapproving.

The researchers said the national figures conceal a profound partisan chasm, however.

Among Republicans, approval reaches 78%, with 51% strongly approving and 27% somewhat approving. This support indicates Trump's immigration policies resonate deeply with the Republican base.

Democrats show fundamentally different attitudes: 11% approve, while 80% disapprove, with 67% strongly disapproving. The resulting 67-percentage-point partisan gap sharply exceeds divisions along any other demographic dimension measured in this survey.

Regarding independents, 27% approve, substantially closer to Democrats than Republicans. The researchers said this 51-point gap between Republicans and independents, combined with the 16-point gap between Independents and Democrats, indicates independents constitute a genuinely separate group rather than simply averaging major party positions.

Other key findings include:

• While partisan identity dominates immigration attitudes, personal connections to immigration generate substantial variation across racial and ethnic groups. Nationally, 24% of Americans express worry that a family member or close friend could be deported, with 9% very worried and 15% somewhat worried.
• Personal stakes vary sharply by race: Hispanic Americans express worry about deportation at 42%, with 20% very worried and 22% somewhat worried. This compares with 28% worry among Black Americans, 36% among Asian Americans and 20% among white Americans, with 7% of white Americans very worried.
• Gender differences are systematic across enforcement questions, with men showing 14 percentage points higher Trump immigration approval than women.
• State variation on Trump immigration approval varies across states by as much as 22 percentage points (from a low of 28% in Hawaii to a high of 50% in Idaho).
• ICE enforcement approval shows a 60-percentage-point partisan gap (69% Republican, 9% Democrat), paralleling divisions on Trump's overall immigration handling.
• Using the military to assist with mass deportations receives 34% national approval, with 17% strongly approving. Republicans show 64% approval, Democrats 15%, creating a 50-point gap.

For the full report, including state-level data, visit the Civic Health and Institutions Project website.

Explore more of the ways Rutgers research is shaping the future.