UCI-OC Poll
AUGUST 19, 2025
Immigration
Orange County Residents Favor New Immigration Policy
At a time when immigration policy has been at the forefront of the news, Orange County residents tell the UCI-OC Poll that they are not satisfied with the current system. In fact, 89% of respondents to the latest Poll seek changes to the current immigration system, with many supporting a more open policy
Overall, 60% of residents believe that undocumented immigrants should be offered an opportunity to apply for legal status, but there are large partisan differences in the responses. Eighty-one percent of Democrats and 66% of independents prefer a path to legal status, whereas 60% of Republicans believe undocumented immigrants should be deported to the countries from which they came
There are also significant differences by age. Three-quarters of residents under 35 prefer legal status compared to 48% of those over 65.
The poll was conducted during the last week of June and the first week of July, as the Trump Administration was ramping up immigrant enforcement efforts in Southern California
These results reflect the changing nature of Orange County, where there is a mix of political ideologies.
The Takeaways
Orange County strongly supports legal status for undocumented immigrants, although there are large partisan and age divides. Few support keeping the current system.
Q. Should most undocumented immigrants in the U.S. be…
METHODOLOGY
sites.uci.edu/ocpoll
Fielded June 20 - July 1, 2025 in concert with TrueDot
N = 800 adults in Orange County
The study was comprised of a sample from an online, non-probability panel provided by Dynata Research Data were weighted to Census targets for age, race/ethnicity (combined), gender, educational attainment, region of California and calibrated to results of 2024 presidential election
Modeled Standard Error (MSE) of +/- 4.1%