People are Talking and Mobilizing: The Groundswell Opposition to ICE Raids and Deportations
Well, what do you know and who could’ve told you (?!) – mass deportations are not only unpopular, but galvanizing millions of Americans to protest and stand up for families and American democracy. What we're witnessing right now isn't just scattered resistance—it's a complete rejection of Trump's immigration dragnet, and the numbers prove it.
The American people are flooding social media with visceral, emotional opposition to immigration enforcement at unprecedented levels. According to analysis via Talkwalker, from May to June, people online generated over 27.6 million immigration-related posts—dwarfing economic concerns, which totaled 12.5 million, by more than 120%. More importantly, Trump's approval ratings are underwater across the board—including on immigration—sitting at just 42%.
This isn't manufactured outrage or coordinated campaigns, and it most certainly did not originate from top elected leaders and operatives on the left. For too long, we’ve heard the punditry and reports that “mass deportation” had public support and it was politically futile to argue against Trump and the right’s immigration rhetoric and handling. Some right-wing strategists gleefully told reporters that they would win the public court of opinion on deportations with images of protests in Los Angeles.
They were wrong.
Post-Los Angeles protests, the president’s ratings continued to tank, with 56% disapproving of Trump’s handling of deportations and 45% of Americans, versus 38% who approved, saying they disapproved of Trump’s deployment of the National Guard. On TikTok, YouTube, Instagram and other digital channels, people are capturing ICE agents driving up in unmarked vans and disappearing both undocumented immigrants and legal residents, sharing their outrage over ICE raids or heartbreaking videos of children separated from their immigrant parents, and/or commenting on the government’s overreach and treatment of elected leaders who oppose their anti-immigrant tactics.
People are talking
Posts about ICE, raids, and deportations generated an estimated 308.4 million engagements, compared to 91.4 million for economic topics. Over 93% of immigration posts are negative, with people sharing raw, unfiltered stories: "My neighbor was taken from their home this morning." "These people aren't criminals—they're workers, parents, human beings." The volume spiked to 2.2 million posts in a single day after the LA operations, without a single paid campaign or organized push driving it.
It’s no wonder that deportations are now the #1 news topic, according to a survey conducted by G. Elliot Morris. Americans are paying attention to 28%—higher than trade, broader immigration concerns, or even inflation.
This is organic, bottom-up resistance. Americans are watching, capturing the moments and mobilizing. They’re not waiting for elected leaders to act. We knew this would happen. We warned many it would. For, we’ve always known all along that most Americans, when given a choice, between an America that offers a pathway to citizenship versus a government that deports people en masse, they would choose the former. Deportation was never popular with the American people, and now we have the receipts to prove it. What we're seeing in mass protests across the country is just the street-level manifestation of what's already exploding across every digital platform—a complete, undeniable rejection of Trump's immigration agenda.
The polling data confirms what we're seeing online: Americans fundamentally oppose Trump's immigration agenda. As we mentioned last week:
54% of Americans, including 70% of Democrats and 57% Independents, oppose giving ICE unlimited power to arrest people in churches, schools, hospitals, courthouses, and places of work.
61% oppose stripping legal status from immigrants, with 62% of Independents and nearly half of Republicans (49%) also opposing such a policy.
61% oppose building detention camps.
63% oppose indefinite detention without due process.
These aren't partisan numbers—Independents and even significant chunks of Republicans are rejecting these policies. Elected leaders in Congress and across the country would be wise to make their opposition known against the administration’s indiscriminate and chaotic immigration “enforcement,” just as Senator Alex Padilla (CA), New York City comptroller, Brad Lander, and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka have done, with courageous defense of their community and our democracy. Combined with a big unpopular bill in Congress that would slash Medicaid and give tax breaks to billionaires, the attacks against immigrant families and those who are standing up for them aren’t just morally reprehensible, but a political and societal opportunity to demand change.
Any politician, regardless of political affiliation, still reluctant to speak out against this cruelty will find themselves on the wrong side of history and the wrong side of the ballot box.
 | A guest post by
|