WASHINGTON, D.C. — Following large-scale operations in Minnesota and elsewhere, 3 in 5 Republican registered voters believe that immigration enforcement should prioritize only immigrants who pose threats to public safety or national security.
Overall, 68% of voters want such prioritization, according to a new poll from the National Immigration Forum and the Bullfinch Group. Only 25% oppose it, with the remainder unsure.
“Voters want balanced enforcement focused on threats and not their neighbors,” said Jennie Murray, President and CEO of the National Immigration Forum. “Across the board, voters agree that current immigration tactics go too far, and they want to see real changes.
“Administration officials have talked about shifting tactics, which is promising. Now we need to see more follow-through. The administration should focus on legitimate safety and security concerns, not meeting numeric goals by sweeping up contributing members of our communities.”
Full survey crosstabs for registered voters are available online. The findings are in line with earlier surveys related to enforcement, including a Forum-Bullfinch poll in December 2024.
Survey respondents were asked their agreement or disagreement with this statement: “Immigration enforcement should prioritize only those immigrants who pose threats to public safety or national security, as opposed to large-scale enforcement actions such as those that have occurred in Minnesota and elsewhere.”
The Forum, in conjunction with The Bullfinch Group, conducted a nationwide online survey fielded Feb. 13-16, 2026, among 1,200 adults, of whom 1,000 respondents were registered voters. Sampling controls were used to ensure that a proportional and representative number of respondents were interviewed from demographic groups such as age, gender, political affiliation, race, and geographic region. The margin of error for registered voters is ±3.1% at the 95% confidence interval. The margin of error for adults is ± 2.83% at the 95% confidence interval.