Support for mass deportations drops from 51% to 39% without due process

A Jun. 6–10, 2025 Vanderbilt Unity Poll found 51% of Americans support deporting undocumented immigrants in general, but support falls to 39% if formal hearings are bypassed—a 12-point drop.

83% of Americans—including 60% of MAGA supporters and 80% of traditional Republicans—believe President Donald J. Trump should comply with court orders blocking his immigration policies.

Partisan breakdown on deportations without formal hearings: 75% of Republicans, 33% of Independents, and 11% of Democrats support bypassing immigration court proceedings.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador despite an immigration court order requiring his stay in the U.S.; the Supreme Court later ordered his return.

53% of Americans oppose detention camps for immigrants awaiting hearings, and 60% oppose using the military for immigration enforcement.

Majorities oppose deporting certain groups: 68% oppose removing people who arrived as children, 67% oppose deporting residents with over ten years in the U.S., and 60% oppose deporting parents of U.S. citizen children.

56% of Americans oppose deporting people who have jobs and no criminal record, while immigration courts already faced multi-year backlogs before the Trump administration’s enforcement surge.

The Fifth Amendment guarantees that no one can be deprived of “life, liberty, or property, without due process of law,” but people in immigration proceedings have no right to government-appointed lawyers.