CNN data guru Harry Enten says President Donald Trump has “lost” on what was once his strongest issue: immigration.
Enten explained that Americans are not on Trump’s side when it comes to the anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protests in Los Angeles—where the president sent in thousands of troops to quash the unrest.
“I think we can say that Donald Trump has lost the political battle when it comes to what has happened out in Los Angeles,” Enten declared, revealing that Trump has a net -15 approval rating for his handling of the protests.
Trump’s numbers were even worse among Independents, with whom he was 24 points underwater over the protests.
Enten observed that “this is happening on what should be ... the best issue for Donald Trump, immigration.”
“This is his core issue,” he said. “And he’s losing on his core issue at this point.”
Trump’s hardline stance on immigration, including his vow to deport undocumented immigrants en masse, was one of his defining issues on the campaign trail.
When Trump entered office in January, New York Times polling showed that a majority of Americans were in support of his deportation efforts.
Reviewing the latest data, Enten observed that 49 percent of Americans now believe that Trump has gone too far in terms of arresting immigrants, while 40 percent said he has not.
The majority of Americans—54 percent—disapprove of ICE raids at workplaces, according to Enten.
Last week, Trump vowed to protect farms and hotels that had lost “good, long-time workers” in immigration raids. “Changes are coming,” he declared.
Soon after, Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) changed its policy, holding back on raids at farms, hotels, and restaurants.
However, the change was reverted just days later, with a DHS spokesperson saying that “worksite enforcement operations are really the tip of the spear to getting these criminal, illegal aliens out of our country.”
