New Survey: Asian Americans Critical of Trump Immigration Policies

A recent poll reveals that roughly 60% of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander adults believe Trump's immigration policies have caused more damage than benefit. The survey also shows about two-thirds of AAPI respondents think the administration has overreached in its deportation efforts.

WASHINGTON — A fresh survey indicates that the majority of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander residents view President Donald Trump’s immigration and border policies negatively during his current administration, based on findings from an AAPI Data/AP-NORC poll.

The research reveals that roughly 60% of AAPI respondents believe Trump has damaged immigration and border security either significantly or moderately, according to data from AAPI Data and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. This compares to approximately 40% of all U.S. adults who expressed similar views in a January AP-NORC study. Additionally, around two-thirds of AAPI participants — a group that tends to lean more Democratic than the general population — believe Trump has overstepped boundaries regarding the deportation of undocumented immigrants, versus about half of Americans overall.

Since taking office, the Trump administration has implemented extensive immigration reforms, with particularly intense activity over the last two months. In January, Trump halted immigrant visa processing for people from 75 nations. While border apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico boundary have dropped significantly, Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests and detentions have skyrocketed. December 2024 saw daily detentions averaging just below 40,000, while last month that figure jumped to approximately 70,000.

The polling took place following January incidents where ICE agents fatally shot two American citizens and detained a Hmong American man wearing only underwear in frigid weather conditions.

These enforcement actions have personal significance for Jeff Ugai, a Hawaii resident. His home island of Kauai witnessed nearly four dozen arrests during November immigration operations.

“It seems like the current administration’s efforts have been more almost about cruelty than they have about actually establishing an immigration system that makes sense to this country,” said Ugai, 39, who is a Democrat.

The poll demonstrates that AAPI adults, representing one of America’s most rapidly expanding demographic groups, generally oppose Trump’s aggressive immigration strategies. A previous AAPI Data/AP-NORC study from last fall showed growing dissatisfaction with Trump’s immigration policies compared to earlier in the year.

“We’re also seeing opposition to policies that may not involve violence or violations of due process, but still involve things like banning immigrants from entire countries where there is a history of visa overstays or deporting immigrants who are married to U.S. citizens,” said Karthick Ramakrishnan, founder and executive director of AAPI Data.

Current polling shows approximately 40% of AAPI adults consider deporting undocumented immigrants a low government priority, up from about one-third shortly after Trump assumed office. Roughly one-third now view such deportations as a moderate priority, while only about 20% classify them as high priority.

Fran Peace, 75, from Oroville, California, continues to view deportation of undocumented immigrants as urgent. However, the Japanese American retiree opposes targeting individuals based on appearance or accents. She also supports creating pathways to citizenship for long-term residents without criminal records.

“I don’t think you should just have to go back automatically, but the laws don’t say that,” Peace said. “If you’re illegal you go back. But I think there should be some concession made for the people that have been here a long time.”

Among AAPI adults, 73% hold somewhat or very negative views of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

AAPI Republicans express considerably less hostility toward the agency compared to AAPI adults generally, with only about one-third reporting negative opinions of ICE. However, just about 25% of Republicans overall held unfavorable ICE views in a February AP-NORC survey.

Strong resistance exists toward multiple strict immigration measures, with approximately 60% opposing large-scale enforcement raids in immigrant-heavy neighborhoods, and about 70% rejecting policies allowing immigration agents to mask their faces during arrests.

Banning face coverings would function like body cameras, “helping keep people accountable,” Ugai said.

AAPI adults show mixed opinions on whether undocumented immigrants significantly impact social services and public safety. About 40% of AAPI respondents consider undocumented immigrants a major threat to welfare and safety net programs. A comparable percentage view this as a minor concern. Only about 25% see no risk whatsoever.

Regarding criminal activity by undocumented immigrants, roughly one-third of AAPI adults perceive this as a major threat, while about half consider it a minor risk. Just 15% say it poses no danger.

Peace attributes reduced crime like drug trafficking to Trump’s leadership, claiming the U.S. “practically had open borders” before his second term.

However, Daniel Kim, 65, from Las Cruces, New Mexico, believes immigrants present minimal criminal threats.

The Korean American Democrat previously volunteered at his church helping refugees with food and donations. He stopped attending his evangelical congregation due to leadership’s insistence on staying politically neutral.

“The church leadership just could not make the connection or could not find it in their hearts to think (about) the issues involved with the treatment of foreigners in our country,” Kim said.

The survey of 1,197 U.S. adults who are Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander was conducted Feb. 2-9, 2026, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based Amplify AAPI Panel, designed to be representative of the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.6 percentage points.

This poll is part of an ongoing project exploring the views of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, which are usually not highlighted in other surveys because of small sample sizes and lack of linguistic representation.