While California Democrats are nearly unified in their views on current immigration enforcement strategies, Latino Republicans and party moderates, especially women, are most likely to diverge from the GOP majority, according to a study co-authored by a UC Merced researcher.
The analysis of an August survey of California voters by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies showed that Democratic opposition to President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement policies never fell below 88% and reached 95% percent on some responses, while Republican responses reveal significant fractures in support for some enforcement measures.
The analysis, released Nov. 17 by the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute, was developed by UC Merced sociology Professor Daisy Reyes and UC Berkeley professors G. Cristina Mora and Nicholas Vargas.
“These findings suggest that some Republican attitudes on immigration are movable,” Reyes said. “When enforcement practices are seen as inconsistent with constitutional norms, voters — especially younger and moderate Republicans — tend to respond with skepticism rather than partisan reflex.”
According to the data analysis, 45% of California Republicans said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents should be required to show identification, 40% supported due process for all immigrants, and roughly a third opposed expanding enforcement into schools and hospitals, deporting long-term residents or ending birthright citizenship.
'When enforcement practices are seen as inconsistent with constitutional norms, voters — especially younger and moderate Republicans — tend to respond with skepticism rather than partisan reflex.'
These responses, the authors said, indicate that support for enforcement weakens when policies touch on constitutional principles or intrude into family and community spaces.
“The poll data shows that California Republicans are not a monolith on immigration,” Mora said.
The analysis identified three groups that diverged most from the Republican party line:
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Latino Republicans showed the highest overall divergence from the party’s dominant immigration stance. They are more likely than White or Asian Republicans to oppose deporting long-time residents, to support due process for all immigrants and to believe that ICE sometimes unfairly targets Latinos.
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Younger Republicans (ages 18–29), on average, diverged from the party line on about four out of 10 enforcement issues — nearly twice as many as older Republicans. They were significantly more likely to support due process protections for immigrants, oppose expanding enforcement into schools and hospitals and question whether ICE focuses only on serious criminals.
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Moderate Republicans, especially women, were the most likely to express concern about fairness and proportionality in enforcement practices. Compared to conservative or strongly conservative Republicans, they were far more likely to say ICE raids can be excessive, to oppose extending enforcement into family spaces such as schools or hospitals, and to believe constitutional principles and accountability should guide immigration policy.
The survey analysis also found that region and education have almost no influence on how California Republicans depart from the party line, underscoring that the differences are driven more by values than by geography or class.
“Republicans express the most reluctance when enforcement violates fundamental principles such as due process and birthright citizenship,” said Vargas, faculty co-director of UC Berkeley’s Latino Social Science Pipeline Initiative. “This pattern points to underlying concerns about proportionality, fairness and the limits of government power.”
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