President Donald Trump is underwater on immigration, a key campaign issue that helped propel him to the water, according to a new poll. Fifty-three percent of Americans now disapprove of Trump’s handling of the issue, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll. His approval on the issue is at 48 percent.

That is a turnaround from February, when Trump’s approval was at 50 percent, with 48 percent disapproval. The surprising reversal comes despite Trump and his team repeatedly stressing immigration issues – and trumpeting an astonishing drop in the number of border arrests reported by authorities.

‘Between January 20 and April 1, only 9 illegal aliens were released into the United States, a staggering 99.9% decrease from the 184,241 released into the country under Biden during the same period last year,’ according to a White House fact sheet touting the achievement.

The poll comes just days after Fox News released a new nationwide poll of Trump’s overall public approval rating which had him at just 44 percent – down from 100 days into his first term, and trailing his predecessors.

That poll also had Trump under water on immigration, although a separate question had Trump doing better when respondents were asked about his performance on controlling the border.

The results could reflect national controversy over other elements of Trump’s immigration policy – which has become a complex fight both about safety and alleged gang members as well as due process and the weight of judicial rulings.

An Economist/YouGov poll had 50 percent public support for bringing back Kilmar Abrego Garcia (pictured), the Maryland man and Salvadoran immigrant who was deported to a notorious Venezuelan prison last month despite a judge’s order not to remove him.

The administration has also been cracking down on leaders of anti-Israel student protests, carrying out a broader mass deportation campaign, and going after student visa holders. On Friday White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt got hit with a question from a student journalist about the revocation of student visas for three Syracuse University students.

Trump hammered immigration throughout his campaign, and credits an immigration chart he featured at his rallies with saving his life when an assassin shot at him. (Trump had turned toward the image).

The administration has appeared to relish the controversy over a Venezuelan man deported to El Salvador in March and sent to a notorious prison. At the White House this week, Leavitt tore into the ‘despicable’ media for describing Kilmar Abrego Garcia as a ‘Maryland man’ in headlines. Lawyers for the Prince George’s County man, who came to the country illegally, are fighting to have the administration to bring him back after a judge called for it to facilitate his return.

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