Poll: Plurality Say Illegal Immigrants Should Be Required to Leave U.S.

A plurality of likely voters believe illegal immigrants should be required to leave the United States, a survey from the Economist/YouGov found.

The survey asked respondents to identify the statement that most closely matches their personal view about illegal immigrants living in the United States.

A plurality across the board, 41 percent, said they should be “required to leave the U.S.,” followed by 38 percent who said they should be “allowed to stay in the U.S. and eventually apply for citizenship.” Another eight percent said they should be “allowed to stay in the U.S., but not become citizens, and 13 percent remain unsure.

Opinions are widely different across party lines. For example, most Democrats, 71 percent, believe that illegal immigrants should be allowed to stay in the U.S. and eventually apply for citizenship. Only ten percent of Republicans agree. Just 12 percent of Democrats believe illegal immigrants should be required to leave the U.S., while a majority of Republicans, 75 percent, believe they should, indeed, leave.

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Another 36 percent of independents believe that illegals should remain in the U.S. but apply for citizenship, while 34 percent said they should be required to leave.

The survey was taken May 16 -19, 2025, among 1,710 U.S. adult citizens. The margin of error is +/- ± 3.2 percent.

The survey comes as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportations remain underway across the country in places such as Boston and Houston. In a one week time span alone, ICE officials in Houston arrested over 400 illegal aliens and put them in jail.

“During the same period, the Houston Field Office deported more than five hundred aliens who exhausted their due process and had been ordered removed from the United States,” as Breitbart News detailed:

“In recent years, some of the world’s most dangerous fugitives, transnational gang members, and criminal aliens have taken advantage of the crisis at our nation’s southern border to enter the U.S. illegally,” ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Houston Field Office Director Bret Bradford said in a written statement. “After illegally entering the country, these violent criminal aliens have infiltrated our local communities and reigned terror on law-abiding residents, leaving countless innocent victims in their wake.”

The results of this survey coincide with that of a recent Cygnal survey, which similarly found that a majority of likely general election voters, including most swing voters, support deporting illegal immigrants back to their country of origin.