Trump calls for mass deportation. Americans are more on-board than you might think.

“Trump’s America in 2025: Mass deportations,” a February press release from the Biden campaign said.

This may be an effective strategy, but it is much less straightforward than it used to be.

Polls have shown for months that Americans are increasingly taking tougher, harsher views on illegal immigration as a long-running crisis at the southern border unfolds. For example, Trump’s signature proposal to build a border wall went from being supported by fewer than 4 in 10 Americans during his presidency to a majority in most recent polls. thats it Highest numbers ever For a boundary wall or fence dating back three decades.

This also appears to be the case with efforts to deport illegal immigrants — and some of the harsh methods they may involve, such as the use of troops and even concentration camps.

It is not clear that Americans would support Trump implementing such a plan and all its details, but they appear to be divided at least on its broad outlines.

February CNN poll We tested a number of Trump’s proposals that may seem extreme or unpopular. The plan to “detain and deport millions of illegal immigrants” was discussed, along with Trump imprisoning, pardoning, and pardoning his political opponents. January 6 Defendants.

But unlike the other proposals, this one actually has the support of nearly half of Americans: 48 percent.

Other polls confirm this sentiment:

• January poll from USA Today and Suffolk University It was found that Americans support a plan “to send troops to the southern border and order the mass deportation of illegal immigrants,” by 53 percent versus 43 percent.
• February Poll of Economists/YouGov It found that Americans support “the use of military forces to detain and deport people who are in the United States illegally,” by 56% versus 31%.
• Perhaps most surprisingly, Americans are remarkably open to another cruel tool put forward by Trump and his allies: concentration camps. January Reuters/Ipsos poll He asked whether illegal immigrants should be arrested and placed in detention camps to await deportation hearings. 42% supported this, while 41% opposed it.

There are valid questions here about how these poll questions align with Trump’s proposals. We don’t have a lot of data yet about concentration camps, for example. How do you define “mass deportation”? Is it almost all Illegal immigrant – estimates put the number in the country at About 11 million – As some Trump allies have said, is this the plan? Americans would certainly like the idea of ​​deporting many more people without adopting the full set of draconian tools that would be required.

But these polls indicate notable superficial support for the key instruments. The Washington Post’s February headline read: “Trump and his allies are planning mass military deportations and concentration campsAmericans appear to be at least equally divided on each of these three elements: mass deportation, use of the military, and concentration camps.

This does not mean that it will always be this way. Americans seem to be of two minds about this, as is often the case. There is reason to believe that explaining the scale of such an effort could cause confusion among many.

For example, the same CNN poll showed that 48% support millions of deportations, and also gave people a choice between allowing these immigrants to gain legal status and deporting “all of them.” The former was favored more than 2 to 1, 68 percent to 31 percent.

These numbers were echoed in August Public Religion Research Institute Surveywhich showed that Americans prefer a path to citizenship or legal status over deportation by a margin of nearly 3 to 1.

All of which suggests that the Biden campaign could get the message right by emphasizing how many people — people who large majorities of Americans say should have a shot at legal status — could fall for such an effort. Pointing out what troop deployments and concentration camps are like might also seem like fertile political ground, given how ugly those scenes are. It is unlikely that survey respondents really had in mind what such an effort would mean and would mean Risky historical precedents.

But for now, associating the phrase “mass deportation” with Trump’s brand doesn’t seem like an obvious negative.