Latest Harvard/Harris Poll Demonstrates Why Immigration Enforcement Is Hard
Voters want criminal aliens off the street, and don’t want sanctuary politicos to stand in the way
By Andrew R. Arthur on February 20, 2026
The Trump administration is in a dilemma: It wants to deliver on its deportation promises but faces backlash in many states and on Capitol Hill when it attempts to arrest aliens in the country illegally. The latest poll from the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard University, The Harris Poll, and Harris X reveals American voters have a schizophrenic response to immigration enforcement — and underscores why the best ICE arrests are the ones you never see in the media or on the internet.
The Harvard/Harris poll was conducted between January 28 and 29, i.e., after the president sent “Border Czar” Tom Homan to Minnesota to calm the waters there. In conducting that poll, The Harris Poll and Harris X surveyed 2,000 registered voters and the margin of error was +/- 1.99 percent.
Favorability of Public Figures
Harvard/Harris asked respondents whether they had a favorable or unfavorable view of 25 public figures, from Donald Trump to Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Corina Machado.
Curiously, voters are evenly split on Machado — 18 percent like her and 18 percent don’t, largely because the rest hadn’t heard of her or didn’t know enough to voice an opinion about a woman the Nobel Prize committee lauded “for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy”.
Perhaps that sounds sketchy to some, or maybe she just needs more TikTok videos and Twitter hits.
https://cis.org/Arthur/Latest-HarvardHarris-Poll-Demonstrates-Why-Immigration-Enforcement-Hard
