March 2026 Poll on Latinos, Trump, and Immigration

Methodology: This memo summarizes key findings from a national poll of 2,000 registered Hispanic voters, conducted from March 10 to 20, 2026, as well as a national poll of 400 registered non-Hispanic voters, conducted from March 10 to 15, 2026. The Hispanic poll has a margin of error of ± 2 pp. The non-Hispanic poll has a margin of error of ± 4.9 pp.

Trump approval among Hispanic voters remains stable since last summer, and Democratic support has stabilized following an increase between October 2025 and February 2026, but feelings of disappointment and regret among Latino Trump voters are increasing. Though the salience of immigration has decreased in the wake of the war in Iran, underlying attitudes toward Trump's enforcement policies remain sharply negative — and while Latinos are still more likely to approve of his handling of the border than his handling of immigration overall, they reject his interior enforcement approach by wide margins. Both parties face credibility challenges as a result: Republicans are newly vulnerable to the perception that they broke their promise to target only dangerous criminals in their deportation efforts, while Democrats continue to struggle with a long-standing reputation for overpromising and underdelivering on immigration reform. Ultimately, what most voters – including Latinos – want is (1) protection for families, children, U.S. citizens, and legal immigrants; (2) accountability when ICE agents go too far; and (3) policies that target genuine threats without tearing families apart.

1. Latino Trump approval remains stable since last summer, and Democratic support has stabilized following an increase between October and February — but feelings of disappointment and regret among Latino Trump voters are increasing.

Among Hispanic voters, Trump’s net job approval is at -25 (35% approve, 60% disapprove) and has remained stable since the summer of last year. Support for Democrats in the generic congressional ballot increased between October and February, and remains stable in this latest round of polling, with Latinos preferring Democrats by a 19-point margin (54% Democrat, 35% Republican).

Net Trump approval is lower among Latinos (-25) than non-Latinos (-15), and there’s a much narrower support margin for Democrats among non-Latinos (+5) than Latinos (+19).

While overall approval and the midterm landscape remain relatively consistent since last month, feelings of disappointment and regret have increased among Hispanics who supported Trump in 2024. Overall, 28% of Latino Trump voters say they are either disappointed with his performance (18%) or outright regret their vote (9%), up from 22% last month. For comparison, just 16% of non-Latinos feel either disappointed (12%) or regretful (4%). 

2. The salience of immigration has declined following the war with Iran, but remains an important issue for Hispanic voters. 

Immigration dropped sharply as a top issue for Hispanic voters – from 27% in February to just 8% today – as the economy (up from 35% to 44%) and the war with Iran (up from 5% to 18%) became more top-of-mind. But while salience has shifted, attitudes on the issue have not. Latinos continue to strongly reject Trump's approach to immigration enforcement, and with the administration showing no signs of slowing down, the issue is likely to surge back into the headlines – making Latino attitudes on immigration incredibly important to understand.

3. Most voters believe Trump has gone too far on immigration, primarily because of the impact his broad approach has had on families and children, as well as U.S. citizens and legal immigrants.

Net approval of Trump’s handling of immigration among Hispanic voters is -26 (35% approve, 61% disapprove), significantly worse than what we’re seeing among non-Hispanics, where net approval is -4 (47% approve, 51% disapprove). 

By a wide 65-30 margin, Latinos believe Trump’s actions on immigration “are going too far, and instead of deporting criminals, he is targeting the types of hardworking immigrants who strengthen our nation,” ahead of believing his actions are “justified… If some people who are not criminals suffer because of it, it's the price to pay to ensure our safety.” Non-Latinos are more likely to describe Trump’s actions as justified (43%), but a majority still say he has gone too far (53%). 

Unsurprisingly, 93% of Hispanic Democrats say Trump’s actions are going too far. But 66% of Independents and even 26% of Republicans say the same. And 62% of Trump voters who feel disappointed or regretful about their vote for Trump say he’s gone too far. 

Among Latinos who believe Trump's actions on immigration have gone too far, the majority cite either the separation of families and detention of children (42%) or the detention and deportation of U.S. citizens and legal residents (26%), rather than the impact on the economy (19%), as their reason for thinking so. The impact on children and families ranks highest among Latinos regardless of partisanship, and is cited by the plurality of non-Latinos as well.

4. Hispanic voters who supported Trump mostly believed he'd only target criminals and recent arrivals. Those who still believe that largely remain satisfied, while the growing share who see him as pursuing broad deportations are souring on his approach.

A majority of Hispanic voters (62%) believe Trump is trying to deport as many undocumented immigrants as possible, regardless of their criminal background or how long they’ve been in the U.S. Just 12% believe he is only deporting recent arrivals or those with a criminal record. And 22% say he’s trying to target only recent arrivals and those with a criminal record, but some of his efforts have affected other undocumented immigrants.

Equis data from December 2024 showed that most Latino Trump voters (65%) thought Trump was only going to target recent arrivals and criminals. This perception helped create a permission structure for some Trump voters to support him in spite of his rhetoric about mass deportations.

Today, among Latino Trump voters who believe Trump is only targeting recent arrivals and criminals or at least attempting to, net approval of Trump’s handling of immigration is incredibly high (+84/83) and a strong majority of these voters are more likely to describe Trump's actions as justified (78% and 71%) rather than having gone too far (13% and 24%). This is consistent with our 2024 data. Most Hispanics who voted for Trump believed he would target recent arrivals and criminals, and those who currently think that’s what Trump is doing or trying to do seem generally happy with their choice.

However, Trump voters who think Trump is trying to deport all undocumented immigrants (37%, up from 26% in 2024) are less likely to think Trump’s actions are justified (55% say his actions are justified, 41% say he’s gone too far) or to approve of his job handling immigration (+31). They are also more likely to say they feel disappointed or regret their vote (42%, compared to 18-20% for Trump voters who believe he is only targeting or attempting to target recent arrivals and criminals).

5. Approval of Trump’s handling of the border continues to outpace his approval on immigration broadly, but enforcement overreach is more top-of-mind for voters today than uncontrolled border crossings.  

While Latinos seem to be rejecting Trump’s approach to interior immigration enforcement, handling the border remains one of his areas of relative strength. On border security specifically, net approval among Latinos is at +1 (48% approve, 47% disapprove), compared to -25 overall and -26 on immigration. Among non-Latinos, net approval on the border is at +9 (51% approve, 42% disapprove). 

But concerns related to the border are not top-of-mind for voters. Just 7% of Latinos and 9% of non-Latinos say the most urgent problem with the U.S. immigration system today is uncontrolled immigration across the U.S.-Mexico border. A plurality (33%) say the most urgent problem is that immigration enforcement policies like detention and deportation have gone too far. Non-Latinos are more likely to say the most urgent problem is that there are too many undocumented immigrants currently living in the U.S. (31%) compared to Latinos (20%), but the same share cites enforcement overreach as the most urgent problem (33%). 

6. While Latinos largely still believe Democrats make immigration promises and fail to deliver, Republicans are newly vulnerable to the perception that they failed to deliver on their promise to exclusively target dangerous criminals. 

Hispanic voters’ top criticism about how Republicans and Democrats handle immigration is that “Republicans made promises to deport dangerous criminals, but instead are deporting hardworking people and tearing families apart" (68% agree, 55% strongly agree). Not far behind is the feeling that "Democrats make promises about immigration reform during their campaigns but always fail to deliver once they have won” (67% agree, 46% strongly agree). Specifically, 42% of Latinos believe that both Democrats and Republicans have broken their promises.

While we have seen strong agreement with Democrats failing to deliver on their promises in previous polling, Republicans appear to be newly vulnerable to the perception that they broke their promise to exclusively target dangerous criminals, and instead are deporting hardworking people and tearing families apart. 

7. Most Americans, including Latinos, want to see meaningful changes to how ICE operates – not an end to immigration enforcement.

Strong majorities of both Latinos and non-Latinos want to see meaningful changes to immigration enforcement. Nearly 3-in-4 Hispanics (72%) want to see changes, whether that means they support reforming ICE to prevent violence and ensure accountability (37%) or abolishing ICE because it is out of control and no training or accountability could reform it (35%). A majority of non-Hispanics (64%) also want to see meaningful changes to immigration enforcement, with half supporting guardrails (32%) and the other half supporting abolishing ICE (32%). Non-Latinos are more likely to say ICE should continue to operate as-is compared to Latino voters (35% vs 25%), but most Americans support a change from the status quo. 

The vast majority of voters who say ICE should be abolished say that means there should be a different approach to immigration enforcement, not an end to it entirely. Among those who believe ICE should be abolished, 85% of Hispanics and 82% of non-Hispanics say that this should mean either redirecting ICE funds to other agencies (47% for Latinos and non-Latinos) or starting a new immigration enforcement agency (38% of Latinos, 35% of non-Latinos). Just 14% of Latinos and non-Latinos who say they think ICE should be abolished believe “there should no longer be any form of immigration enforcement.” 

8. A “back to basics” message that centers safety and opportunity outperforms an “abolish ICE” message, particularly among non-Latinos and Latinos who support reforms for ICE.

When pitted against White House immigration talking points, 64% of Hispanic voters say a “back to basics” message comes closer to their view, compared to 58% who pick an “abolish ICE” message. 

Abolish ICE: It's time to abolish ICE. ICE is supposed to be enforcing immigration law, but instead, is terrorizing people no matter their immigration status, no matter the facts of the law, and no matter the facts of the case. ICE has harmed and killed too many people, including U.S. citizens. We should shut down the agency and replace it with something that will actually keep our communities safe.

Back to Basics: It’s time to get back to basics on immigration. America has always been a land of opportunity, a place where people who work hard have a chance to build a better life. The government's responsibility is to keep our communities safe, so that hardworking Americans can focus on getting ahead. On immigration, that means focusing enforcement where it belongs: on removing violent criminals and serious threats, while protecting the promise and opportunities that define this country.

The “back to basics” message is especially strong among non-Hispanics, where 65% pick the “back to basics” message over White House talking points, compared to just 49% for the abolish ICE message. 

Most importantly, the “back to basics” message generates support from both those who believe ICE should be abolished and those who think the agency needs to be reformed, while an abolish ICE message has more narrow appeal. The “back to basics” message generates similar levels of support from those who support abolishing ICE compared to the “abolish ICE” message (+74 vs +79, respectively), and it gets significantly more support from those who believe ICE should not be abolished but needs additional guardrails (+55 vs +34, respectively). 

9. Most Americans, including Latinos, want Democrats in Congress to fight for measures that protect U.S. citizens and legal immigrants and keep people safe.

Hispanic voters do not want Democrats to support the Trump administration’s efforts to conduct large scale immigration enforcement (net support -20). Instead, they want Democrats to fight for measures that would protect U.S. citizens and legal immigrants, like requiring ICE agents to check someone’s legal status before detaining them (+72 net support among Latinos and +77 net support among non-Latinos), or restoring legal protection to those who lost their Temporary Protected Status or asylum protections (+42 among Latinos, +36 among non-Latinos). Voters also want Democrats in Congress to support measures that would keep people safe, whether that’s improving unsanitary conditions and insufficient medical care in detention centers (+57 net support among Latinos, +55 among non-Latinos), demanding accountability for ICE agents who use more violence than necessary (+56 among Latinos, +62 among non-Latinos), or requiring ICE agents to wear visible ID, use body cameras, and not wear masks during enforcement operations (+52 among Latinos, +31 among non-Latinos).

Among the options offered to respondents, freezing additional funding for immigration enforcement and fighting to prevent Republicans from spending billions of dollars turning warehouses into new immigrant detention centers had the lowest net support, though both were net positive (+10 and +7, respectively among Latinos; among non-Latinos, +2 and +3, respectively).