Poll finds majority of NC voters approve of using military on U.S. soil to deport undocumented immigrants

The majority of North Carolina voters support the use of the U.S. military on home soil to arrest and deport immigrants, according to a new poll from Meredith College. That was a campaign pledge made by president-elect Donald Trump, but it raises a host of thorny legal questions.

Sixty percent of registered voters said they support or strongly support the idea, according to the poll, which was released Thursday. Republicans were most likely to support it at 80%, compared to 44% of Democrats and 46% of unaffiliated voters.

The poll, conducted online, surveyed 800 respondents. It had a credibility interval of 3.5 percentage points.

Meredith Poll director David McLennan said most respondents probably aren’t aware there’s a federal law banning the use of active military for domestic law enforcement.

“I never thought the number would be that high,” McLennan said in an interview. “That’s almost off-the-charts high. It cuts across party lines.”

A federal law known as the Posse Comitatus Act, first passed in 1878, bars the deployment of the military on domestic soil for law enforcement purposes in all but a handful of situations.

Steven Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff, has suggested Trump could invoke the Insurrection Act, which was how former president Dwight D. Eisenhower got around the law to deploy the military during civil strife over school desegregation.

Trump has also said he would invoke the Alien and Sedition Acts to deport immigrant gang members. That was the mechanism for the internment of Japanese-American citizens during World War II. However, invoking it generally requires the involvement of a foreign government.

The poll also found overwhelming support — 85% — for deporting undocumented immigrants who have criminal records. A majority, 54%, also supported deporting undocumented immigrants who have not committed a property or violent crime. A plurality — 48% — would approve of deporting undocumented asylum seekers who left their countries because of war or violence.

“It speaks a lot to the rhetoric of the Trump campaign and how they really used fear appeals around immigration,” McLennan said. “I think the fear convinced even some Democrats to say ‘Hey, we’ve got to do something about this.’”

Voters’ attitudes softened when it came to immigrant families: 58% would oppose deporting DACA recipients and 53% would oppose deporting undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens.

Tariffs and trade

The poll also found that about two-thirds of voters approve of the use of tariffs to retaliate against other countries, while just over half — 55% — support using tariffs to promote American industry.

However, that support dropped precipitously when voters were asked whether they would be willing to foot the costs of tariffs on goods they want to buy. Only 20% said they would be willing to pay more because of a tariff, while 62% said they would not. Another 17% weren’t sure.

“People love tariffs until they have to pay for them,” McLennan told WRAL. “They see it as punishing other countries, but they don’t like them as much when they see the effect.”

Trump made inflation a cornerstone of his campaign. But Trump has also threatened to increase tariffs on goods imported from Mexico, Canada and China. That would likely cause companies to pass added costs along to consumers, economists say.

“This may be the Trump policy where public opinion turns quickly once Americans start feeling the real world impact,” McLennan said.

Trust in news sources

The poll also gauged voters’ news consumption habits. One-third of North Carolina voters told the poll that social media is their primary source for political news — but they also said they don’t trust the information they find there.

Overall, cable news was the top source voters turned to, at 38%, followed by social media with 33%.

Those were not the most trusted sources for political information. The most trusted, voters said, were family and friends at 69% and local news at 62%.

Only about 55% said they trust national news media, including cable news. And only 38% said they trust the information they find on social media.

“Social media is now mainstream media for most citizens,” McLennan said, noting that Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris voters favored TikTok and YouTube, while Trump voters favored X.

“It’s the ultimate irony — they’re tuning more and more to information sources they trust less and less,” McLennan said. “And we wonder why we have so much concern about disinformation.”