Trump's Approval Ratings On Immigration Drop As Courts Challenge Some Deportations: Poll

As the Trump administration continues with its anti-immigration rhetoric and policies, new surveys show his approval ratings on the issue have dipped.

The new trend comes from a recent Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll conducted April 18-22 among 2,464 U.S. adults. The margin of error was plus or minus 2 percentage points.

The survey found that 53% of Americans now disapprove of Trump's handling of immigration, with 46% approving, a reversal from February when half of the public voiced approval of his approach.

The trend of disapproval spans different groups, the poll suggests, with 90% of Democrats, 56% of independents and 11% of Republicans now disapproving of the way the president has managed one of his core policy issues.

Since taking office, Trump has signed a number of executive orders focused on securing the southern border and cracking down on unlawful immigration. The administration has deported 200 Venezuelan and Salvadoran men, alleging they are members of gangs— decisions that have prompted numerous challenges in courts.

One of the most prominent cases is that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador. The U.S. Supreme Court has ordered the Trump administration to facilitate his return, yet both the American president, and El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele have refused to do so.

The Post-ABC-Ipsos poll found that more Americans say Abrego Garcia should be returned to the country than remain imprisoned in El Salvador— 42% versus 26%. Moreover, about 3 in 10 Americans, however, say they "don't know enough" to have an opinion, a sign that views on the high-profile case are still forming among a sizable segment of the population, the Post reports.

The partisan divide in this case is smaller, yet still stark. 74% of Democrats say Abrego Garcia should be returned to the U.S., with 20% saying they don't know enough to respond. By contrast, a narrow majority of Republicans, 53%, say he should remain in prison, with just 14% of them saying Abrego Garcia should be returned.

Among independents, 39% say he should be returned, 21% say he should be left in El Salvador and 39% didn't know enough.

On another issue, support for deporting alleged members of criminal groups without a court hearing breaks sharply along partisan lines, with 85% of Democrats opposing the practice and 82% of Republicans supporting it. Just under half of independents support such deportations, while just over half of them oppose them, the poll finds.

The recent poll comes as major outlets release new surveys showing a collapse in Trump's approval ratings. For instance, a recent poll released by the Pew Research Center showed that 72% of Hispanics disapprove of Trump's job as president, compared to 82% of Black voters and 69% of Asian respondents.