A new survey by koreadaily.com—the Korean-language site of koreadailyus.com—shows that Korean Americans strongly support the Donald Trump administration’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants with criminal records, while expressing clear opposition to its tariff policies due to rising living costs.
Roughly 66% of the 714 Korean American respondents said they support immigration enforcement—46% (331 people) “strongly,” and 20% (139 respondents) “somewhat.” In contrast, 28% opposed the policy, with 16% (116 respondents) “strongly opposed” and 12% (87 respondents) “somewhat opposed.”
Views on tariffs were more negative. 40% (285 respondents) “strongly opposed” the policy, while 17% (121 respondents) “somewhat opposed” it, totaling 57% disapproval. Only 36% (254 respondents) expressed some level of support. When asked if tariffs had increased their household expenses, 75% (537 respondents) said “very much” or “somewhat.”
Opinions were more evenly split on other Trump-era policies. On stricter student visa requirements, 32% (228 respondents) said they “strongly support” the changes, and 32% (226 respondents) said they “strongly oppose” them. Responses to Medicaid benefit reductions were similar, with 35% (248 respondents) strongly in favor and 31% (224 respondents) strongly opposed.
The four-day survey, conducted from May 27 to May 30, included Korean Americans in their 20s through 60s. Political affiliation was mixed: 40% said they had no party preference, followed by 33% identifying as Republicans and 25% as Democrats. Most respondents were long-term residents—72% were U.S. citizens, and 78% had lived in the country for over 21 years. Men accounted for 70% of participants.
BY YEOL JANG [jang.yeol@koreadaily.com]
