Equis Labs July 2025 Immigration Message Test Results

Methodology: We tested 7 immigration messages with Swayable using randomized controlled trial (RCT) survey experiments to see which was best at shifting Trump approval. These messages were tested in English and Spanish. The tests ran from July 3 to July 9 nationally. We collected a total of 16,580 responses, with 11,852 English responses and 4,728 Spanish responses. 

Key Takeaways:

  1. Across languages and subgroups, the most effective message for lowering Trump approval overall and on immigration is focused on the impact of the administration’s actions on families and children. We recommend continuing to amplify stories of overreach as proof points. 

    • The Trump administration is going too far. Instead of prioritizing violent criminals, they’re separating mothers from their children and tearing families apart, many of whom have been in the US for a long time. They even detained a high school student with no criminal record while he was on his way to volleyball practice. Separating families and targeting children doesn’t make our communities safer. 

    • El gobierno de Trump está pasándose de la raya. En lugar de priorizar a los delincuentes violentos, separan a las madres de sus hijos y separan familias, muchas de las cuales llevan mucho tiempo en Estados Unidos. Incluso detuvieron a un estudiante de secundaria sin antecedentes penales mientras se dirigía a su entrenamiento de voleibol. Separar a las familias y atacar a los niños no hace que nuestras comunidades sean más seguras.

  2. In English, we also found that focusing on the unfair impact that mass deportations are having on law-abiding, hard-working immigrants is an effective approach, though less effective in Spanish. 

    • Instead of prioritizing violent criminals, they are raiding workplaces, profiling people who are out shopping or driving, detaining immigrants who are doing the right thing by going to their scheduled court hearings, and even revoking permits and protections from legal immigrants to make them targets for deportation.

    • En lugar de priorizar a los delincuentes violentos, están allanando lugares de trabajo, discriminando a personas que salen de compras o conducen, deteniendo a inmigrantes que hacen lo correcto al asistir a sus audiencias judiciales programadas e incluso revocando permisos y protecciones a inmigrantes legales para ponerlos en peligro de deportación.

  3. While not as effective overall as the others, a broader “Broken Promises” message was relatively effective across groups and in both languages at lowering Trump approval. It offers a model for how to incorporate immigration alongside other key issues. 

    • Trump is breaking his promises to the American people. He told us he’d bring down the cost of living, but his tariff policies continue to increase the cost of everyday goods. He told us he’d deport violent criminals, but instead is separating parents from their children and targeting hardworking immigrants who have been here for years. He told us he’d be a peacetime president, but instead dropped bombs on Iran. He promised he wouldn’t cut Medicaid, but his budget bill would do exactly that, taking away critical healthcare coverage from over 8 million Americans while giving tax breaks to billionaires. 

    • Trump está incumpliendo sus promesas a los estadounidenses. Nos dijo que reduciría el costo de la vida, pero sus políticas arancelarias siguen aumentando el precio de los bienes cotidianos. Nos dijo que deportaría a criminales violentos, pero en cambio está separando a padres e hijos y atacando a inmigrantes trabajadores que llevan años aquí. Nos dijo que sería un presidente en tiempos de paz, pero en cambio bombardeó Irán. Prometió que no recortaría Medicaid, pero su proyecto de ley de presupuesto haría precisamente eso: quitaría cobertura médica esencial a más de 8 millones de estadounidenses y daría exenciones fiscales a multimillonarios.

Overall Findings:

  • In English, the most effective immigration messages for lowering Trump approval overall and on immigration were the “Threat to all of us” message and the “Impact on families and kids” message. That is true for Latinos and non-Latinos. These messages were also most effective among the least politically engaged. 

  • In Spanish, every message except the “Threat to all of us” message significantly lowered Trump overall job approval, but none of them shifted Trump immigration approval. This suggests Spanish-dominant Latinos may be especially persuadable on their rating of Trump relative to other Latinos and voters generally. 

  • The broader “Broken Promises” message was also effective at lowering Trump approval overall and on immigration for all voters.  It also lowered Trump approval on immigration for Latinos in English. 

  • Our continued attempts to find an immigration message that connects to the economy and cost of living yielded mixed results. The messages were largely effective in Spanish, but not in English. 

Full Messages:

Threat to all of us: The Trump administration is going too far. Instead of prioritizing violent criminals, they are raiding workplaces, profiling people who are out shopping or driving, detaining immigrants who are doing the right thing by going to their scheduled court hearings, and even revoking permits and protections from legal immigrants to make them targets for deportation. They even restrained and handcuffed a United States Senator for asking a question at a televised press conference. If a sitting Senator isn’t safe, then none of us are safe.

El gobierno de Trump está pasándose de la raya. En lugar de priorizar a los delincuentes violentos, están allanando lugares de trabajo, discriminando a personas que salen de compras o conducen, deteniendo a inmigrantes que hacen lo correcto al asistir a sus audiencias judiciales programadas e incluso revocando permisos y protecciones a inmigrantes legales para ponerlos en peligro de deportación. Incluso detuvieron y esposaron a un senador estadounidense por hacer una pregunta en una conferencia de prensa televisada. Si un senador no está seguro, entonces ninguno de nosotros lo está.

Impact on families/kids: The Trump administration is going too far. Instead of prioritizing violent criminals, they’re separating mothers from their children and tearing families apart, many of whom have been in the US for a long time. They even detained a high school student with no criminal record while he was on his way to volleyball practice. Separating families and targeting children doesn’t make our communities safer. 

El gobierno de Trump está pasándose de la raya. En lugar de priorizar a los delincuentes violentos, separan a las madres de sus hijos y separan familias, muchas de las cuales llevan mucho tiempo en Estados Unidos. Incluso detuvieron a un estudiante de secundaria sin antecedentes penales mientras se dirigía a su entrenamiento de voleibol. Separar a las familias y atacar a los niños no hace que nuestras comunidades sean más seguras.

Broken promises: Trump is breaking his promises to the American people. He told us he’d bring down the cost of living, but his tariff policies continue to increase the cost of everyday goods. He told us he’d deport violent criminals, but instead is separating parents from their children and targeting hardworking immigrants who have been here for years. He told us he’d be a peacetime president, but instead dropped bombs on Iran. He promised he wouldn’t cut Medicaid, but his budget bill would do exactly that, taking away critical healthcare coverage from over 8 million Americans while giving tax breaks to billionaires. 

Trump está incumpliendo sus promesas a los estadounidenses. Nos dijo que reduciría el costo de la vida, pero sus políticas arancelarias siguen aumentando el precio de los bienes cotidianos. Nos dijo que deportaría a criminales violentos, pero en cambio está separando a padres e hijos y atacando a inmigrantes trabajadores que llevan años aquí. Nos dijo que sería un presidente en tiempos de paz, pero en cambio bombardeó Irán. Prometió que no recortaría Medicaid, pero su proyecto de ley de presupuesto haría precisamente eso: quitaría cobertura médica esencial a más de 8 millones de estadounidenses y daría exenciones fiscales a multimillonarios.

Waste of Money: Trump's immigration policies aren't just cruel – they're a massive waste of taxpayer money. A recent military deportation flight to Guatemala cost at least $4,675 per migrant – more than a first-class ticket. And now, his administration is using Guantanamo Bay – a prison meant for terrorists – to detain migrants, flying as few as 10 people there at a time with no clear plan, all at a steep cost to taxpayers. This isn't about safety – it's reckless spending that drains resources from real security needs while terrorizing people just trying to build a better life. Instead of wasting money criminalizing immigrants, we should be investing in real solutions, including a path to citizenship for immigrants and public safety for everyone.

Las políticas migratorias de Trump no solo son crueles, también son un enorme desperdicio del dinero de los contribuyentes. Un vuelo de deportación militar reciente a Guatemala costó al menos $4,675 por migrante, más que un boleto de primera clase. Y ahora su administración está usando la cárcel en Guantánamo, una prisión para terroristas, para detener migrantes, llevando tan solo 10 personas a la vez sin un plan claro, todo con un alto costo para los contribuyentes. Esto no se trata de seguridad; es un gasto imprudente que desvía recursos de las necesidades reales de seguridad, mientras aterroriza a personas que intentan construir una vida mejor. En lugar de malgastar dinero criminalizando a los inmigrantes, deberíamos invertir en soluciones reales, incluyendo un camino a la ciudadanía para los inmigrantes y seguridad pública para todos.

Dictator: Trump’s MAGA regime is trying to turn our government into a weapon against our people. They are abducting our neighbors, ignoring courts, and arresting judges, and Republicans have failed to provide any check on his authoritarian power grab. Trump is a dangerous dictator and his administration is operating more like a fascist regime every day. They are creating a Constitutional crisis that threatens to completely destroy American democracy.

El régimen MAGA de Trump está tratando de convertir a nuestro gobierno en un arma contra nuestro pueblo. Están secuestrando a nuestros vecinos, ignorando a los tribunales y arrestando a jueces, y los republicanos no han logrado frenar su toma de poder autoritaria. Trump es un dictador peligroso y su administración opera cada día más como un régimen fascista. Están creando una crisis constitucional que amenaza con destruir por completo la democracia estadounidense.

For profit prisons: Large corporations profit from keeping the immigration system broken and painting immigrants as criminals. For every hardworking immigrant the Trump administration detains, the private companies that hold them charge American taxpayers $120,000. These companies then donate a percentage of their profits back to Trump. The Trump administration claims this is about safety, but really it’s about profit. This is Trump’s Art of the Deal: lock hardworking people up away from their families, pay with taxpayer money, and profit. 

Las grandes corporaciones se benefician de mantener el sistema migratorio en crisis y de presentar a los inmigrantes como criminales. Por cada inmigrante trabajador que la administración Trump detiene, las empresas privadas que los retienen cobran a los contribuyentes estadounidenses $120,000 dólares. Estas empresas luego donan un porcentaje de sus ganancias a Trump. El gobierno de Trump dice que se trata de seguridad, pero en realidad se trata de aumentar sus ganancias. Este es el “arte de la negociación” de Trump: encerrar a los trabajadores lejos de sus familias, pagar con el dinero de los contribuyentes y obtener sus propias ganancias.

We Pay the Price: We will all pay the price for Trump's political agenda against immigrants. Taxpayers will foot the billion dollar bills for expensive detention centers, deportation proceedings and flights, and bloated immigration enforcement budgets, all while underfunded schools, aging infrastructure, and real public safety measures go ignored. Instead of investing in what actually keeps communities safe, we're paying billions to target people who are just trying to work and build a better life. We deserve smarter solutions that make us all safer, not policies that drain our communities and our pockets.

Todos vamos a pagar el precio de la agenda política de Trump contra los inmigrantes. Los contribuyentes asumirán los gastos multimillonarios de los costosos centros de detención, los procedimientos de deportación y vuelos, y de los presupuestos inflados para la aplicación de la ley migratoria, mientras que siguen ignorando las escuelas con fondos insuficientes, la infraestructura vieja y las verdaderas medidas de seguridad pública. En lugar de invertir en lo que realmente mantiene seguras a las comunidades, estamos pagando miles de millones para perjudicar a quienes solo intentan trabajar y construir una vida mejor. Merecemos soluciones más inteligentes que nos brinden mayor seguridad a todos, no políticas que vacíen nuestras comunidades y nuestros bolsillos.