Immigration, Trump's ace in the hole that has become a problem for him

WashingtonImmigration has always been Donald Trump and the Republican Party's winning horse. In the 2016 campaign, the star promise was the wall with Mexico; in 2024, the "largest" mass deportation in history. Trump controlled the narrative surrounding immigration so well that even when images of families separated at the border and children in cages appeared during his first term, his dominance didn't waver. Nor did it when, in the last campaign, he spread the lie that Haitian immigrants were eating "dogs and cats" in Ohio. But now, the images of violence and paramilitary brutality by ICE in Minnesota are turning what was solid ground into mud.

Even Bianca Gracia, the founder of Latinos for Trump, points out in a call with ARA that there is a problem with how the message is being conveyed to the Latino community.

The two deaths of U.S. citizens at the hands of anti-immigration agents; the avalanche of videos on social media showing hooded men getting out of an unmarked car to kidnap people in broad daylight; the photograph of five-year-old Liam Ramos being abducted by a group of armed men; the images of the officers of ICE knocking on people's doors to take people away. All of this has generated a wave of indignation and anger against the US president on one of his key issues in the lead-up to midterm elections that were already shaping up to be complicated before the outbreak of violence.

Although the terror employed in Minneapolis shows that it is no longer just an immigration issue, the latest polls indicate that Trump He is hurting himself in a field that has historically been his party's strong suit. The Republicans' dominance on this issue has been so strong that in recent years it has forced Democrats to harden their stance. Even Republicans themselves acknowledged that it was one of the key issues that paved the way for Trump's return to the White House.

Approval of anti-immigration practices declines

Trump is already at one of his lowest points in popularity as president, and a Reuters/Ipsos poll found that the president has also hit rock bottom in his second term on immigration: 58% of Americans believe his aggressive stance has gone too far. Only 39% approve of his handling of the situation, two points lower than at the beginning of January and 11 points lower than in February of last year.

Even before the murder of Alex Pretti—the nurse killed in Minneapolis by anti-immigration agents weeks after the murder of Renee Nicole Good—Trump's own voters were turning against him. In a poll made by Political and published on January 24The picture was similar among his supporters: one in five people who voted for him in 2024 consider the mass deportation campaign too aggressive, and more than a third of voters said that, although they agree with his objectives, they disapprove of how it is being implemented.

"They are killing our message"

By the end of 2025, polls already showed that Trump was losing ground among Latino voters, one of the key groups in his 2024 victory. Now, the polls are even more discouraging for the president. A Pew Research survey of more than 5,000 Latinos shows that 70% disapprove of the job he is doing, with a majority (55%) saying they disapprove "strongly." Among Hispanics who voted for the Republican, Trump has also lost support: from 93% at the start of his second term to 81%, a drop of 12 points in the first year.

Latinos for Trump founder Bianca Gracia defended the president's immigration policies this week in a call with the ARA. Gracia believes that both the polls and the photographs from Minnesota—including the one of little Liam's detention—are a product of thefake media"The traditional media. Although he doesn't buy the poll data, he does detect the White House's communication crisis in its anti-immigration campaign.

For Gracia, the problem isn't the methods—he says he's in favor of them—but rather the lack of Hispanic people in charge of communicating the message. "We have no problem with the immigration campaign; the only problem we have is that they haven't called on us to help the Trump administration get the message across," says Gracia, who points to the lack of Latinos within the president's team, despite their importance in returning him to power.

"This will affect the midterm elections if they don't take action and start bringing in Hispanics to help them convey the message," he says. "All our leaders continue to ignore us," he laments. "If we can't help them, we'll lose them [the Latino voters]." And she adds: "I just spoke with a former Border Patrol agent who is now a leading figure, and he told me, 'They're killing us with the message. Nobody is speaking up for us.'"

Within the Republican Party, beyond the usual critical voices, such as Representatives Thomas Massie, Lisa Murkowski, and Ted Cruz, new ones have also emerged. One of the co-founders of Latinas for Trump, Florida State Senator Ileana Garcia, spoke out against him this week.

But, in general, Trump's control over the Republican ranks means that dissent is still limited and symbolic, rather than effective. There are other members of the Republican Party who are concerned, but they speak of it quietly and anonymously in the U.S. media.