The mainstream media has been relentlessly driving home the narrative that the gains President Donald Trump made with Hispanics in the 2024 election have been erased due to his strong border security stance, but is that true? While President Trump’s historic margins with Hispanic voters may be difficult for Republicans to achieve in the midterms in the current economic environment, the GOP’s border security stance is not the problem.
A new survey from the New York Times and the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) released Nov. 18 finds that a majority of immigrants support President Trump’s border security policies, while the president’s marks on economic issues are less favorable. The survey results, which are derived from a representative sample of 1,805 immigrants from seventeen different regions including Mexico, Cuba, South America and the Caribbean, make the case that President Trump’s approach to securing the border is supported by a majority of immigrant voters.
According to the Times/KFF survey, immigrants who are registered to vote approve of President Trump’s border security policy — which has resulted in the lowest number of illegal alien encounters on the southern border in over 50 years — by 25 points, 62 percent to 37 percent.
The largest share of immigrant voters — 38 percent — strongly approve of President Trump’s border security policy. Another 24 percent of immigrant voters somewhat approve of Trump’s border security policy. Thirteen percent somewhat disapprove of the president’s border security policy, and 24 percent strongly disapprove. In other words, by fourteen percentage points, immigrant voters strongly approve of Trump’s approach to securing the southern border.
On issues such as the implementation of tariffs and handling of inflation, President Trump’s approval rating has slumped among immigrants and other swing voters. Immigrant voters disapprove of President Trump’s handling of tariffs by 41 points and of his handling of inflation by 44 points. While it is true the president’s approval rating has taken a beating on cost-of-living issues, immigrant voters largely support President Trump’s approach to securing the border.
That said, President Trump’s approval rating among immigrant voters is nearly identical to his approval rating among the population as a whole. The Times/KFF survey shows 40 percent of immigrant voters approve of President Trump while 60 percent disapprove. Trump’s approval rating among immigrants is just a few points below the president’s average approval rating of 42.4 percent from Real Clear Polling.
Deportation of illegal immigrants receives mixed reviews in the survey, but a majority of Republican immigrants (80 percent) and independent immigrants (53 percent) as well as 17 percent of Democrat immigrants support the deportation of illegals.
The survey also shows that while Democrats may be hoping to increase their margins among immigrants by using President Trump’s border security stance to dissuade support for conservatives, far fewer immigrants identify as Democrats than might be expected. Among immigrants as a whole, only 29 percent identify as Democrats, with the vast majority (40 percent) identifying as independent and 20 percent identifying as Republican. Among immigrants who are registered to vote, 36 percent identity as Democrat, 34 percent as independent and 25 percent as Republican.
The latest The Economist/YouGov survey also shows that while President Trump’s approval rating has dipped compared to last year, his approval rating among Hispanics has remained remarkably resilient. 35 percent of Hispanics hold a favorable view of President Trump according to the latest Economist/YouGov survey from Dec. 1, 2025. In an Economist/YouGov survey from last year in October 2024, President Trump’s approval rating was also 35 percent. While President Trump’s approval rating on economic issues is slipping among swing voters including Hispanics, he remains net positive on securing the border. The president’s border security stance and commitment to exposing the impact of illegal immigration is something conservatives should be willing to embrace and speak about in the midterms, even in immigrant-heavy congressional districts.
Manzanita Miller is the senior political analyst at Americans for Limited Government Foundation.
