ICE and Empty Mangers: New Polling Shows Americans Reject Trump's Mass Deportation Agenda
PLUS, an announcement about my next book.
Dear #WhiteTooLong readers,
As you may have noticed, things have been a bit quieter here over the last two weeks. Thanks for your patience—I’ve been on the home stretch of finishing my next book (more on that below). And PRRI has just released new analysis showing most Americans reject Trump’s the dehumanization of immigrants and the mass deportation agenda, with its violent tactics. I’m looking forward to begin back in regular posting rhythm here.
To all who are observing, wishing you a meaningful Advent and Hanukkah-
Robby
ICE and Empty Mangers: New Polling Shows Americans Reject Trump’s Mass Deportation Agenda
This week, The New York Times reported that a Catholic parish on a busy street in a wealthy Boston suburb had caused a stir with their Nativity scene. All the familiar elements were there: the shepherds and angels, sheep and hay, the three wise men. But Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus were missing. In their place was a large sign that said “ICE WAS HERE.” They also added a question mark to the phrase “Peace on Earth,” which was painted on a blue banner above the display.
The leaders of St. Susanna Parish in Dedham, Mass., made the decision to modify their Nativity scene in the wake of a surge of ICE arrests earlier this fall in Boston, which was at the forefront of the rolling ICE raids in Democratic leaning cities across the country in the last few months.
Oddly, despite the fact that the U.S. Catholic Bishops recently issued a rare statement condemning Trump’s aggressive mass deportation campaign, the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston recently told the parish to take down the signage in its Nativity display. Archdiocesan leaders objected that churchgoers “have the right to expect that they will encounter genuine opportunities for prayer and Catholic worship — not divisive political messaging.”
I want to salute the local church leaders for standing firm. Fr. Stephen Josoma, pastor of the parish, replied to the archdiocese, “That some do not agree with our message does not render our display sacrilegious nor [make it] the cause of any scandal to the faithful.”
The New York Times noted that the Catholic parish in Boston was not alone in using Advent and nativity scenes to highlight their opposition to Trump’s mass deportation program and solidarity with immigrants:
Other politically themed Nativity scenes have popped up around the country this Christmas season, including one at a church in Evanston, Ill., that includes a baby Jesus figure with his hands bound by zip ties. In another Nativity scene near Chicago, Mary, Joseph and Jesus are missing, with a sign telling viewers that “Due to ICE activity in our community, the Holy Family is in hiding.”
While the Catholic bishops may be showing signs of ambivalence, there are signs that Americans overall are sympathetic to these churches who are taking a stand. This week, PRRI released new analysis of American attitudes on immigration reform that show Americans are rejecting Trump’s dehumanizing, racist rhetoric and harsh immigration policies.
Support for Trump’s immigration policies have dropped across nearly every demographic over the first year of Trump’s second term. Today, only 43% of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing handling immigration, a decrease of 5 percentage points since March 2025. Notably, the steepest decline in approval over the past year—11 points—comes from political independents.
The data shows that Americans overwhelmingly reject Trump’s mass deportation policies. Instead, Americans continue to favor a humane, pragmatic approach to dealing with the approximately 12 million undocumented immigrants in the country:
60% of Americans, including 64% of independents, support DACA, allowing immigrants brought illegally to the U.S. as children to gain legal resident status; and
60% of Americans, including 61% of independents, support providing a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants living in the country illegally, provided they meet certain requirements.
And despite Trump’s Executive Order attacking this longstanding Constitutional principle, two-thirds of Americans (67%), including 71% of independents, favor birthright citizenship, the “U.S. Constitution’s existing guarantee that all children who are born in the United States are automatically granted U.S. citizenship, regardless of their parents’ citizenship status.”
Overall, Americans are not supportive of the increasingly aggressive and violent tactics of ICE. While the country is divided by party, the divides are asymmetric, with independents siding with Democrats and Republicans as outliers.
Only four in ten Americans (42%) say they have a great deal or some confidence in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement known as ICE, compared with the majority (56%) who have little or no confidence. Republicans express far more confidence in ICE (79%) than independents (37%) or Democrats (16%).
Nearly six in ten Americans (58%) agree that “Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers should not be allowed to conceal their identity with masks or use unmarked vehicles when arresting people,” including most Democrats (84%) and independents (64%), compared with just three in ten Republicans.
Only one-third of Americans (33%) favor Trump’s indiscriminate ICE raids that arrest and detain undocumented immigrants who have resided in the United States with no criminal record, compared with 63% who oppose. Most Republicans (61%) favor this policy, compared with 26% of independents and 12% of Democrats.
Despite the good news, I continue to be deeply alarmed by the attitudes of white Christians generally and white evangelical Protestants in particular. I continue to be struck, as a social scientists, that it has become virtually impossible to write a survey question about immigration policy that is too harsh for white evangelicals to support.
Under the sway of Trump’s dehumanizing, racist rhetoric about immigrants, here’s a sampling of the lows to which white evangelical attitudes about undocumented immigrants have sunk today:
Confident in ICE. 62% of white evangelicals say they have a great deal or some confidence in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement known as ICE, compared to 42% of the public.
Approve of masked ICE agents. 62% of white evangelicals agree that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers should be allowed to conceal their identity with masks or use unmarked vehicles when arresting people, compared to 38% of the public.
Favor arresting undocumented immigrants with no criminal record. 57% of white evangelicals favor arresting and detaining undocumented immigrants who have resided in the United States with no criminal record, compared to 33% of the public.
Favor placing undocumented immigrants in internment camps. 57% of white evangelicals agree that the federal government should detain immigrants who are in the country illegally in internment camps until they can be deported, compared to 33% of the public.
Favor sending undocumented immigrants to foreign prisons without due process. 52% of white evangelicals favor the U.S. government deporting undocumented immigrants to foreign prisons in El Salvador, Rwanda, or Libya without allowing them to challenge their deportation in court, compared to 33% of the public.
A smaller poster in the display at St. Susanna Parish, placed just below the empty crib, reads, “The Holy Family is safe in the Sanctuary of our Church.” Amen. But for most white evangelical churches who have embraced Trump’s racist, dehumanizing, anti-immigrant rhetoric, the brown-skinned Jesus of the Bible is nowhere to be found this Advent. He’s not safe in the sanctuary of their churches. And he’s certainly not incarnate in the cheap plastic white baby Jesus lit up in their nativity scenes.
News and Updates
My New Book, Backslide
I’m excited to announce that I’ve turned in the final manuscript of my new book, Backslide, and that it’s now officially in production. The book, to be published by St. Martin’s Essentials next fall ahead of the midterm elections, is grounded in timely data and historical analysis, and it is my most personal book yet. It was also the most difficult to write, given the times. We’re still working on the book jacket cover art, but here’s the title and a short headline description (click the link to read a longer description):
Backslide: Reclaiming a Faith and a Nation After the Christian Turn Against Democracy
A clear-eyed reckoning with the moral collapse of white Christianity and a call to protect American democracy.
More to come as we move through the publication process. WTL readers will be the first to know when the book is available for pre-order next year.
Finally, here’s the latest episode of The Convocation unscripted…..
I find the attitudes you find among mainline Protestants about immigration and Trump pretty depressing. My people aren't doing as well as we might.