Poll: Most Americans favor birthright citizenship, not Trump's immigration plan

Data: PRRI; Chart: Erin Davis/Axios VisualsAmericans overwhelmingly support keeping the Constitution's guarantee of birthright citizenship amid growing public resistance to President Trump's immigration crackdown, according to a new survey that also measures attitudes across religions.Why it matters: The survey released Tuesday by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) is the latest in a series of polls indicating the Trump administration's hardline immigration agenda is turning off many voters.The findings come as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is stepping up arrests and the Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to Trump's executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship.By the numbers: Two-thirds of Americans — including majorities of independents and many Republicans — support preserving the 14th Amendment's guarantee of citizenship to those born in the U.S., the survey found.Roughly 8 in 10 Black Protestants favor keeping birthright citizenship, and solid majorities of Hispanic Catholics and Hispanic Protestants support it as well.Even among Trump's most supportive religious constituency — white evangelical Protestants — 53% say the Constitution's guarantee should stand.What they're saying: "Most Americans, including many conservatives and religious Americans, see birthright citizenship as a core constitutional promise," PRRI CEO Melissa Deckman told Axios."Ending it is simply not something the public wants."State of play: The Trump administration has sent ICE agents to Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte, New Orleans and Minneapolis.As in other cities, some U.S. citizens have been swept up by federal agents, sparking angry protests. Zoom in: Only 3 in 10 Americans back Trump's overall immigration agenda, while two-thirds oppose it, PRRI found.Approval of Trump's handling of immigration has fallen to 43%, down significantly among independents, seniors and younger voters since March.Even border-state residents — typically more supportive of immigration enforcement — have turned against Trump's crackdown, with approval dropping from 42% in March to 33% in September.Yes, but: Nearly 3 in 4 white evangelical Protestants approve of Trump's work on immigration. They're the only major religious group without majority support for a path to citizenship or legal status for "Dreamers" — unauthorized immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children.About 57% of white evangelicals back arresting and detaining unauthorized immigrants with no criminal record, and 59% support keeping them in detention camps until they're deported.The intrigue: Majorities across nearly all religious groups — except white evangelicals — now lack confidence in ICE, the poll found.Deckman said ICE agents' aggressive raids — smashing car windows, pulling people out — has shocked the conscience of many Americans, and that's showing in the poll numbers.The bottom line: Trump's second-term immigration agenda is mobilizing his base — particularly white evangelicals and Christian nationalists — but alienating much of the rest of the country.With the Supreme Court now weighing the future of birthright citizenship, the nation's ideological and religious divide over immigration could be about to widen even further.Methodology: The American Values Survey was conducted online Aug. 15-Sept. 8. The poll is based on a representative sample of 5,543 adults (age 18 and older) living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia who are part of Ipsos' Knowledge Panel®.The margin of sampling error is +/- 1.79 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample.