Although President Donald Trump took home a victory in court, he still “lost the political battle” over the immigration protests in Los Angeles, CNN’s chief data analyst Harry Enten said on Friday.
Earlier this month, Trump deployed 4,000 California National Guard troops and 700 Marines to the city in order to quell protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids sweeping the area — a decision that had ignited a public feud with California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). While Trump has maintained that the decision was necessary to prevent Los Angeles from burning to the ground, Newsom has argued that the president had overstepped his authority in federalizing state troops.
A federal appeals court on Thursday sided with Trump in the legal dispute, allowing him to keep control over the troops he deployed. The case blocks a ruling from a lower court judge, who previously found that Trump had acted illegally over opposition from Newsom. The deployment, according to AP, was the first time that a president activated the state National Guard without a governor’s permission since 1965.
Despite Trump calling the three-judge panel’s decision a “BIG WIN,” Enten said that the president’s net approval rating over the protests is “way, way, way underwater,” having declined by 15 points. Among voters who identified as independent, his approval has plummeted by 24.
“Of course, this is happening on what should be one of Donald Trump’s — in fact the best issue — for Donald Trump: immigration,” Enten said.
Enten cited the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, in which 1,136 U.S. adults surveyed remained divided over Trump’s decision to activate the military. Forty-nine percent of respondents said Trump had gone too far in doing so, while 40% answered that he did not.
“At this particular point, if the protesters’ idea was to focus the attention on Donald Trump, and bring attention to his immigration policies, and bring attention to the arrests that have been occurring of immigrants, it seems to me that those protests have been successful,” Enten said.
Enten also pointed to a Pew Research Center poll released on Tuesday, which found that 54% of people disapprove of more ICE raids at workplaces where illegal immigrants may be working. Respondents who identified as Republican or leaned Republican approved of the move by 76%, compared to just 16% of those identifying as a Democrat or leaning Democrat.
“ICE has historically actually been rated fairly favorably, but their favorable ratings have been going down as these raids have been going up,” Enten said.
The analysis comes as Vice President JD Vance headed to Los Angeles on Friday, amid Trump’s increased immigration crackdown provoking ongoing protests across the city. He is expected to visit operations and command centers, as well as meet with Marines who were deployed, according to the White House. Newsom’s office said he has yet to be officially notified of the trip, and the two do not have plans set to meet.
The Trump administration was grilled on Thursday after federal agents attempted to access one of the parking lots of Dodgers Stadium. The team said they denied access to the agents, who the Department of Homeland Security claimed were from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
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