Democrats in cities like Minneapolis and Los Angeles made names for themselves this spring by opposing the Trump Administration’s deportation of illegal aliens and the result was an increase in opposition to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) performing their jobs and an escalation in violence.
A Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memo from January, 2026 noted that due to “sanctuary city” policies from Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, hundreds of criminal illegal aliens were released back onto the streets during President Donald Trump’s first year in office, even as President Trump began delivering on his deportation promise.
The data shows that sanctuary policies pushed by Democrat politicians put criminals back on the streets, and a majority of Americans are now saying they oppose state opposition to working with the federal government to arrest and deport criminal illegals from American cities.
New polling shows a strong majority of Americans — including a plurality of Democrat voters — want state leaders to work with the administration to find and deport criminal illegals, not block the deportation program.
According to the latest Cygnal survey of 1,500 likely voters conducted April 2-3, Americans say by 45 points that state leaders should work with the Trump Administration to arrest and deport criminal illegals, not make it harder to do so.
A full 67 percent of voters say that state leaders should work with the Trump Administration to arrest and deport criminal illegals, and only 22 percent say state leaders should “make it harder” to deport these individuals.
While there is a large partisan disparity, even Democrat voters say that state leaders should work with the Trump Administration when it comes to deporting illegal aliens with a criminal record by eleven points.
The survey shows Republicans strongly support state officials working with the Trump Administration to find and deport illegal criminals by a resounding 82 points — 89 percent to 7 percent. Independents support state officials working with the Trump Administration by 40 points — 64 percent to 24 percent.
While just over a third of Democrat voters (35 percent), maintain the position that state leaders should make it harder for the Trump Administration to deport illegals that have criminal records, a full 46 percent of Democrat voters say state leaders should work with the Trump Administration. This is a signal that outside of political circles, a larger share of Democrat voters support state leaders working with the administration on illegal immigration.
What is most interesting is the groups of swing voters and voters who lean Democrat who now say they support state leaders working with the Trump Administration to deport illegal aliens.
For example, college educated females, a group that skews Democrat, support state leaders working with the Trump Administration to deport illegal aliens by a resounding thirty points, 57 percent to 27 percent. College educated men support state leaders working with the Trump Administration by 53 points, with 72 percent saying state leaders should work with the administration to deport illegals and 19 percent saying the administration shouldn’t.
Majorities of both Black and Hispanic voters say state officials should work with the Trump Administration on deportation, with Black voters saying so by a margin of 39 points, 61 percent to 22 percent. Hispanics agree by a margin of 28 points, 56 percent to 28 percent.
State officials fighting the Trump Administration on deportation is still a huge issue, with Democrats continuing to pass legislation to block and hinder ICE’s ability to find and deport criminal illegals in cities and states across the country.
In Texas, Senator John Cornyn is speaking out against the Houston City Counsil’s recent adoption of a “catch and release” program for illegal criminals instead of holding illegal criminals so they can be handed into ICE custody. Cornyn called the City Council’s sanctuary policies, “absurd” and “dangerous”, noting that immigration enforcement is a crucial part of public safety, and that there is no reason Houston police shouldn’t be able to fully cooperate with ICE.
In Virginia, Democrats recently passed SB 783, legislation severely limiting the cooperation and information-sharing of local sheriffs with ICE, a dangerous move that could make immigration enforcement much harder across the state.
Democrat lawmakers’ pushback against immigration enforcement may be popular with a radical slice of their constituency, but as the Cygnal survey shows, Americans demanding state officials cooperate with the federal government on deportation is the broad majority. Even a plurality of Democrats, independents, and swing voter groups including college educated women and Black and Hispanic voters agree that Democrat lawmakers should be working with the administration, not against it, to deport criminal illegals.
Manzanita Miller is the senior political analyst at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
