About half of registered voters approve of the policies and enforcement actions undertaken by the Trump administration, according to a survey by the 91猎奇 and Texas Southern University. (Credit Getty Images)
Key Takeaways
- Texans are split on President Donald Trump鈥檚 immigration policies, with 51% of registered voters approving the policies and 49% disapproving.
- More than half of Texans (54%) support the use of local law enforcement to assist with immigration detention efforts, while 50% support policies to increase immigration raids at workplaces.
- Nearly six in 10 Texans (58%) say undocumented students should not be allowed to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities.
- 42% support suspending most asylum applications; 58% disapprove.
Immigration remains a powerful issue in Texas, as the state鈥檚 voters are split on President Donald Trump鈥檚 immigration policies.
About half of registered voters, 51%, approve of the policies and enforcement actions undertaken by the Trump administration, according to a survey by the University of Houston鈥檚 Hobby School of Public Affairs and the Executive Master of Public Administration program in the Barbara Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University. Almost as many, 49%, disapprove.
Several enforcement actions drew even higher approval, with almost six in 10, or 58%, in support of sending the U.S. military to the border, and 54% backing the use of state and local law enforcement to help with immigration detention.
Reaction to workplace immigration raids was evenly split, with half of Texas voters approving and half disapproving.
鈥淎s residents of a border state, Texans are long familiar with immigration as a political and law enforcement issue,鈥� said Ren茅e Cross, researcher and senior executive director of the Hobby School. 鈥淚t has been a priority for Gov. Greg Abbott and the Legislature, with more than $11 billion of Texas taxpayer money spent to cover the cost of Operation Lone Star, the state initiative to secure the border, since 2021. And while a sizeable number of voters disapprove of some of the federal government鈥檚 efforts to staunch illegal entry, overall, we found strong support for actions to limit immigration.鈥�
A majority of Texans, 58%, agree undocumented residents should not be allowed to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities. That had been state law since 2001 but ended in June when the Trump administration sued, arguing the practice is unconstitutional, and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton concurred with the Trump administration.
鈥淎s residents of a border state, Texans are long familiar with immigration as a political and law enforcement issue. ... And while a sizeable number of voters disapprove of some of the federal government鈥檚 efforts to staunch illegal entry, overall, we found strong support for actions to limit immigration.鈥�
鈥擱en茅e Cross, researcher and senior executive director of the Hobby School
Mark P. Jones, political science fellow at Rice University鈥檚 Baker Institute for Public Policy and senior research fellow at the Hobby School, said voters also disagree about how current enforcement actions will impact crime and the economy.
鈥淎lmost half, or 46%, say increased enforcement will reduce crime, while 29% think it will have no impact and 25% say it will increase crime,鈥� Jones said. 鈥淧eople are also divided on the economic impact, as 47% expect the immigration policies to weaken the economy, while 41% say they will strengthen it.鈥�
Another 12% say the policies will have no economic impact.
Although overall support for many of the policies topped 50%, researchers found significant divisions along racial, ethnic and gender lines, as well as by age and partisan affiliation, said Michael O. Adams, director of the Executive Master of Public Administration graduate program at TSU.
鈥淢en were 13 percentage points more likely than women to approve of President Trump鈥檚 immigration policies, at 58% to 45%,鈥� Adams said. 鈥淲hite voters were similarly more likely to approve than Latino or Black voters.鈥�
Among white voters, 62% approve of the immigration policies, compared to 42% of Latino voters and 23% of Black voters.
Nine out of 10 Republican voters approve, compared to 13% of Democrats and 39% of independents.
Only one major policy initiative included in the survey proved relatively unpopular 鈥� 42% of voters approve of suspending most asylum applications, while 58% disapprove.
鈥淟imiting asylum was the least popular of the policies included in the survey,鈥� said Pablo Pinto, director of the Center for Public Policy at the Hobby School. 鈥淧eople may want something done about illegal immigration, but they are perhaps less comfortable with ending the ability of most people from around the world to apply for asylum.鈥�
Even voters who are generally the most supportive of Trump are relatively skeptical about limiting asylum. Results showed 78% of Republicans, and 72% of people who voted for Trump in 2024, approved of limiting asylum 鈥� the lowest approval rating among those groups for any of the policies covered, Pinto said.
The full report is available on the Hobby School website. The survey of 1,650 Texas registered voters was conducted between Sept. 19-Oct. 1 in English and Spanish and has a margin of error of +/-2.41%.
Previous reports explored voter concerns about partisan redistricting and voter preferences in the Texas U.S. Senate and state attorney general race. A future report will look at household energy use.