PASSAIC, N.J. (AP) — Alleged gang members without criminal records wrongly sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador.
International students detained by masked federal agents for writing opinion columns or attending campus demonstrations.
American citizens, visa holders and visitors stopped at airports, detained for days or facing deportation for minor infractions.
Since returning to the White House, President Donald Trump has launched an unprecedented campaign of immigration enforcement that has pushed the limits of executive power and clashed with federal judges trying to restrain him. But unlike in his first term, Trump’s efforts have not sparked the kind of widespread condemnation or protests that led him to retreat from some unpopular positions.
Instead, immigration has emerged as one of Trump’s strongest issues in public polling, reflecting both his grip on the Republican base and a broader shift in public sentiment that is driven in part, interviews suggest, by anger at the policies of his predecessor, Democrat Joe Biden.
The White House has seized on this shift, mocking critics and egging on Democrats to engage on an issue that Trump’s team sees as a win.
“I think this is another men/women’s sports thing for the Democrats,” Trump said in an interview with Time magazine published Friday, referring to the cultural wars debate over transgender rights that Trump campaign aides saw as a key driver of support in November.
“America’s changed,” said pollster Frank Luntz, a longtime ally of Republicans who has been holding focus groups with voters to discuss immigration. “This is the one area where Donald Trump still has significant and widespread public support.”
Luntz said voters dismayed by the historically large influx of migrants under Biden are now “prepared to accept a more extreme approach.”
“Make no mistake,” he added. “The public may not embrace it, but they definitely support it. And this is actually his strongest area as he approaches his 100th day (in office).”
Changing views
A poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that immigration is a relative high point for Trump compared with other issues, including his approach to the economy, foreign policy and trade negotiations. Slightly fewer than half of U.S. adults, 46%, say they approve of Trump’s handling of the issue, compared with his overall job…