CNN senior political data reporter Harry Enten said Wednesday on “NewsCentral” that Americans “have become considerably more hawkish” on illegal immigration since Donald Trump was first in office.
Enten said, “You can really see that there has been a massive shift from when Trump was first getting into office eight years ago. Deport all undocumented immigrants, you go back to 2015, it was 42%. Go to 2016 it was 36%. Look at where we are now. This was taken at the end of last year, 56%. This is 20 points higher than it was just before Trump got in office the first time. So feelings towards immigration in this country, feelings towards undocumented immigrants and deporting all of them have become considerably more hawkish.”
He continued, “Again, trying to get at the underlying feelings of wanting immigration levels to decrease. This includes legal and illegal immigration. Look at this, last year, 55%. That is the highest level since the 9/11 aftermath.”
Enten added, “They want less people coming into the country, look at that. that’s a 14 point rise from 2023. You go back to 2016 when Donald Trump again was running for president the first time, it was 38%. That’s a 17 point rise. So the bottom line is more folks want people who are here illegally deported and their overall feelings towards immigration have become considerably more hawkish since Donald Trump was first getting in office.”
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