A majority of Americans approve of President Trump’s immigration policy but most disapprove of his tariff plan, which is his worst issue, according to a new poll.
Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration, marked by the arrests and deportations of thousands of criminal migrants, scored the president his best marks among seven policy issues highlighted in a CNN poll released Wednesday.
The president received a 51% approval rating on immigration, which was 7 points higher than at any point during his first term.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has arrested 32,000 illegal migrants – 70% of whom are either facing charges or have been convicted of crimes – during Trump’s first 50 days in office, agency officials said Wednesday.
Trump, 78, has also ramped up deportation operations, including opening up the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to detain migrants and negotiating deals with several Latin American countries to take in deportees.
However, only 12% of respondents selected immigration as their top concern, which ranked just above health care (6%), foreign policy (3%) and climate change (2%).
The economy ranked as the top issue for 42% of Americans, well-above the state of US democracy (19%), the way the federal government works (14%) and immigration.
More than half of respondents, 56%, disapproved of Trump’s handling of economic issues and 44% approved.
Among economic issues, Trump’s tariff policy was a sore spot.
Sixty-one percent of Americans disapproved of the president’s ratched-up tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China.
Trump levied 25% across-the-board tariffs against Canada and Mexico last week, arguing that the US neighbors haven’t done enough to clamp down on the distribution of fentanyl precursors and illegal immigration.
The president has also implemented new 20% tariffs on imports from China over the past two months.
In his latest move, Trump raised tariffs on global steel and aluminum imports to 25% on Wednesday.
The president is expected to slap reciprocal tariffs next month on foreign nations that have import taxes on US goods.
Overall, Trump’s approval rating stands at 45%, according to the CNN poll, which was conducted between March 6 and March 9 and surveyed more than 1,200 US adults.
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