CNN pollster Harry Enten said on Thursday that President Donald Trump is strongest on his immigration policy — and, in fact, a majority of Americans agreed with him when he said that all illegal immigrants should be deported.
Enten laid out the details during a Thursday appearance on CNN News Central with anchor Kate Bolduan, where he noted just how far public sentiment had swung since Trump’s first administration on that particular issue — and how many Americans appeared to agree that Trump’s policies were an improvement on those of former President Joe Biden.
WATCH:
Immigration is “where Trump wants the focus… Pretty, pretty please with a cherry on top.”
-His net approval on immigration is positive
-A plurality say under Trump immigration policy is on the right track (unlike under Biden)
-Most want all undocumented immigrants deported pic.twitter.com/5RbgJPjW7D
— (((Harry Enten))) (@ForecasterEnten) April 17, 2025
“Why is Trump focusing on immigration? Let me just tell you, this is where Trump wants the focus. Pretty, pretty please with a cherry on top. Why is that?” Enten asked before going to the data.
In 2017, several months into his first term in the White House, Trump had been underwater (-12 points) on immigration policy. Eight years later, with arguably stricter policies in place, Trump was above water by one point on the same issue.
“This is one of his strongest issues at plus one point,” Enten continued. “And more than that on the net approval — the net approval for him on this issue has stayed steady in the positive. This is an area where Donald Trump wants to focus because the bottom line is this is an area in which the American people, at least the bare majority of them, seem to like what he’s doing.”
Bolduan briefly raised the issue of the economy, saying that Trump was less popular on that particular topic, before asking Enten to lay out the difference between Trump and Biden on the immigration issue.
“We know that this was why he leaned into immigration so much,” Bolduan said.
“Yes, this is a big reason why,” Enten agreed, adding, “So take a look here. This is on immigration. What track are we on? The right track or the wrong track? Look in December. Look at the percentage who said we were on the wrong track, 62% of Americans, when Joe Biden was in office, compared to just 14% who said that we were on right track. Flash forward to April. Well, hello. 45% say we’re on the right track, compared to 42% who say we were on the long track.”
“So in a big switcheroo from where we were back in January, the plurality of Americans say that the country is on the right track when it comes to immigration policy. Back in December, when Joe Biden was president, the vast majority said that we were on the wrong track. Again, this points out that on the whole, Americans like where we’re going on immigration policy under Donald Trump, which is very different from where we were under Joe Biden,” Enten said.
Enten concluded with one last comparison, showing the dramatic change in public perception regarding mass deportations since the beginning of Trump’s first term.
“Voters favoring the government trying to deport all 11 million of them, back in 2016, just 38% of voters wanted the government to try to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants. Compared to where we are in 2025. Fifty-six percent – the majority,” Enten said. “The American people have come a long way on this issue, much closer to Donald Trump, and I think that’s a big part of the reason why Americans are increasingly saying the country is on the right track when it comes to immigration policy, and why Donald Trump’s net approval rating on that issue is in the positive, very much unlike his first term.”
