A growing number of Republican lawmakers are breaking with the Trump administration over its mass deportation strategy as new polling shows most Americans now view immigration as a positive force and support for reducing immigration has fallen sharply, including among Republicans.
The dissent extends beyond isolated criticism. Reps. Carlos Gimenez of Florida and Mike Lawler of New York have publicly urged the administration to reconsider its approach after the Supreme Court allowed the White House to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian and Syrian migrants.
Gimenez told The Hill that deporting Haitians to a country still in crisis would be “a huge mistake,” adding that TPS “was made for those seeking a better life but also getting away from difficult situations.” He also argued the designation should be extended to Venezuelans following recent deadly earthquakes. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine separately urged Trump to “reconsider” ending TPS.
Lawler noted that roughly one-third of the more than 350,000 Haitian TPS recipients work in the U.S. healthcare system, warning on social media that “immediately shutting off TPS will create a crisis in our hospitals, nursing homes and in the I/DD community.” He has co-sponsored bipartisan legislation with Rep. Laura Gillen to extend TPS protections and urged the Senate to take up the measure.
Appearing on CBS’s Face the Nation, Gimenez also called on Trump to “normalize” longtime immigrants already living in the country, citing the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program as a model.
“I don’t think anybody wants criminals to be here. I don’t think anybody wants gang members to be here,” Gimenez said. But immigrants “that have been here for years, that have been working, are part of the community, that are part of the economy, we need to find a way to normalize them.”
Lawler has also faced pressure at home. During a town hall, attendees chanted “let him stay” and “shame, shame, shame” over ICE enforcement and one person was removed by sheriff’s deputies, according to the Rockland County Business Journal. Lawler called the death of Minneapolis shooting victim Alex Pretti during a federal immigration operation “tragic” and “entirely preventable,” urging a “full, independent and transparent investigation.”
In a later opinion piece, he argued Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection “should reassess their current tactics” and called for closer coordination with state and local law enforcement.
Republicans split over deportation priorities
The divide extends beyond Gimenez and Lawler.
Rep. David Valadao of California has urged the administration to “prioritize the removal of known criminals over the hardworking people who have lived peacefully in the Valley for years.”
Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas told CNN lawmakers “all need to focus on convicted criminal, illegal aliens,” rather than farm workers.
Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida has expressed concern about deporting migrants to authoritarian countries such as Cuba, Nicaragua and North Korea, saying some have “potential legitimate claims” that could place them in danger.
Other Republicans have raised narrower concerns. Rep. Zach Nunn of Iowa has focused on Afghan Special Immigrant Visa applicants while continuing to support enforcement against those who “come here illegally.” Rep. Tom Barrett of Michigan has backed immigration enforcement broadly while opposing selective application.
Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar, despite supporting the administration’s overall immigration agenda, questioned plans to convert a warehouse in his district into an immigrant detention center, a proposal that has sparked protests in Surprise, Arizona.
Farmers and rural economies feel the squeeze
Economic concerns have become a growing flashpoint for Republicans representing agricultural communities.
Trump acknowledged those concerns in a Truth Social post, writing that “our great farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace,” adding, “That is not good…Changes are coming!”
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, about 42 percent of U.S. farmworkers lacked legal work authorization in 2022, while another 19 percent held visas or permanent resident status.
Michigan State University food economics professor David Ortega said agriculture depends heavily on migrant labor for harvesting, planting and meatpacking jobs that many U.S.-born workers are unwilling or unable to perform.
New Jersey blueberry farmer Brandon Raso said he lost about $5 million after failing to harvest 2.5 million pounds of blueberries because he secured only about one-third of the roughly 600 workers he needed.
Meanwhile, Congress has approved an additional $170 billion for ICE and Customs and Border Patrol operations through September 2029. The administration has set a goal of deporting at least one million immigrants annually while directing agents toward 3,000 arrests per day, according to White House border czar Tom Homan.
What the numbers show
Gallup’s survey of 2,043 adults found 73 percent of Americans believe immigration is good for the country, while 29 percent favor reducing immigration, down from 55 percent in 2024.
Among Republicans, support for reducing immigration has fallen from 88 percent during the 2024 election cycle to 48 percent. Gallup’s Lydia Saad wrote that the findings “reverse a four-year trend of rising concern about immigration that began in 2021 and reflect changes among all major party groups.”
The survey also found support for hiring significantly more Border Patrol agents has fallen 10 percentage points over the past year, leaving Americans nearly evenly divided.
Majorities oppose deporting all undocumented immigrants. Eighty-one percent support a pathway to citizenship for immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children, while 75 percent favor a pathway for the broader undocumented population. Gallup noted a 51-point partisan gap, with Republicans far less likely than Democrats to “strongly” support those proposals while continuing to back tougher enforcement.
Stephen Yale-Loehr, a former Cornell University immigration law professor, told Newsweek that “President Trump’s mass deportation efforts are backfiring” and that “Americans realize that immigration is good for the country and that we need immigrants to grow our economy.”
Not all surveys reach the same conclusion. A Harvard/Harris poll of 1,725 registered voters found 80 percent support deporting immigrants with criminal records and 56 percent support deporting all undocumented immigrants, including 77 percent of Republicans. Even so, Republican support for broad deportations declined three points from the previous survey, highlighting how responses vary depending on whether pollsters ask about criminals specifically or the undocumented population as a whole.