On Sunday, Republican Sen. Joni Ernst said public support for her party on immigration policy is declining. However, she argued that Democrats share responsibility for the political stalemate.
According to the Raw Story, Ernst spoke to Fox News on Sunday about recent polling. They discussed how the Republican Party is losing ground with voters on this issue, which is historically one of its strongest campaign themes.
“How can we get the numbers switched on immigration?” Gowdy asked during the interview. “Trump closed the border, and yet we’re underwater on that issue!”
Joni Ernst agreed that the polling numbers are bothersome. But she believes the bigger problem comes from the political divisions in Washington. “We are underwater on that issue, but we have to come together — both Democrats and Republicans — and find a way forward on this,” she said.
Her remarks were a result of the recent surveys showing growing dissatisfaction with immigration policies under Donald Trump. According to a recent poll by NBC News, about 60 percent of Americans now disapprove of how the president is handling immigration. The number rose from 49 percent in the same survey.
Walz got caught.
Now it’s time to return the money to taxpayers! pic.twitter.com/zyUKBVjScy
— Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) March 5, 2026
Furthermore, the support among independent voters has also dropped. Private polling data shared by Axios earlier this year revealed that roughly 60 percent of independents dislike Trump’s approach to immigration. The survey was conducted before two widely reported killings involving migrants, cases that further intensified the national debate over border policy.
Despite the polling decline, Joni Ernst claimed that Democrats in Congress are blocking potential policy solutions. “So much can be done on this if only Democrats will want to come to the table,” she said during her interview.
Joni Ernst, the Iowa senator, also accused Democratic lawmakers of allowing political hostility toward the president to prevent compromise. “They’ve demonstrated — whether it’s DHS or anything else — that they just simply despise the president so much they don’t want to do the right thing for our country,” she added, referring to the Department of Homeland Security.
Trump said he’s pro legal #immigration, his policies say otherwise https://t.co/fNoPWoPBd6
— Bennett Savitz (@ImmigrationOpts) March 2, 2026
Immigration enforcement has become a central focus of the Trump administration’s agenda, especially in his second term. Federal data show that more than 328,000 migrants have been arrested since the start of Trump’s second term. Moreover, government statistics show that more than 73 percent of them do not have a criminal record.
The revelation has drawn criticism from immigration advocates and many lawmakers, who believe the enforcement strategy goes against earlier promises to focus only on the “worst of the worst” offenders.
Nevertheless, the issue continues to divide voters and policymakers as lawmakers debate possible changes to border security, asylum rules, and deportation policies.
