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For months, President Donald Trump had promised to ramp up deportations of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. as part of a restrictionist immigration policy.

Now, federal agencies are beginning to fulfill that promise, backed by the White House and Mr. Trump鈥檚 executive orders. On Sunday, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement began stepping up operations in Chicago together with the FBI and other agencies to 鈥渆nforce U.S. immigration law and preserve public safety and national security by keeping potentially dangerous criminal aliens out of our communities,鈥� ICE said in a statement on X. It didn鈥檛 provide details about how many people had been detained.聽Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove was in Chicago聽to help oversee the multiday operations there.

The Trump administration has said its initial priority is to find and deport immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally and have criminal records. Polls show this policy has significant support from voters across the political spectrum, many of whom also support targeting other categories of unauthorized immigrants. A rightward shift on immigration has come after a surge of asylum seekers arrived during the Biden administration, turning the issue into a political liability for Vice President Kamala Harris in November鈥檚 election.

A recent Ipsos/New York Times poll found that a clear majority of Americans, including 44% of Democrats, supported the deportation of individuals who entered the country illegally during the past four years. Among Hispanic respondents, support for this policy was 54%. Asked about unauthorized immigrants with criminal records, nearly 9 in 10 respondents agreed they should be deported.

鈥淚 think Trump is on the right track,鈥� says John Burke, a Trump voter who runs a sports-card store in Chicago. 鈥淚鈥檓 sure many people are good people,鈥� he says of those targeted for deportation. But, he adds, 鈥淭here are probably many people who blend in and are connected to cartels.鈥�

Mr. Trump鈥檚 policies will test anew a longstanding American tension between valuing immigrants and securing borders against an unmanaged influx. In the past few years, the public has grown less welcoming overall toward immigrants. But while Americans strongly support deporting criminals, many also say there should be paths to legal status for law-abiding people, many of whom have lived in the U.S. for decades. A Pew Research Center poll from November found that 43% of respondents who said they supported mass deportations also said that unauthorized residents should have legal pathways.

Apparent contradictions in public opinion are unlikely to stop President Trump from carrying out an expansive deportation agenda. But they point to nuanced views on the subject that some experts say could result in a backlash should the administration鈥檚 tactics be deemed overly harsh.

鈥淎lthough in general [Americans] support the idea of deportations of the undocumented, in the specifics they may or may not support,鈥� says Theresa Cardinal Brown, a former Department of Homeland Security official in the Bush and Obama administrations. Such specifics include making arrests in churches and mosques, and separating U.S.-born children from parents who don鈥檛 have legal status. Last Tuesday, the DHS revoked previous guidelines on avoiding arrests in 鈥渟ensitive locations鈥� such as schools, hospitals, and places of worship.

On the ground in Chicago, mixed views

In 2022, the federal government estimated the聽total unauthorized population to be 11 million. That鈥檚 now considered an undercount, given that millions more entered without prior visa approvals under President Joe Biden. Of the population of immigrants who currently lack legal status, the majority came before 2010, and some have spent decades in the U.S. and put down roots.

Marco Duran crossed the southern border from his native Mexico in the 1980s at the age of four. He and his parents benefited from amnesty programs under President Ronald Reagan that afforded legal status for millions of unauthorized immigrants. Today he鈥檚 a U.S. citizen, running a busy tire-repair shop in Pilsen, a diverse neighborhood in Chicago, where many last week began bracing for raids by ICE after news leaked that the city would be the first target of Mr. Trump鈥檚 deportation efforts.

As an icy wind scoured the streets, he sat bundled in a jacket and a baseball cap with ear muffs inside his office. He wore thin rubber gloves to protect his hands from the grime of tire changes; stacks of tires crowded around his desk.

Mr. Duran opposes the deportation simply because people don鈥檛 have legal residency or citizenship. It鈥檚 not good for business; his customers tell him they鈥檙e worried about being sent home. He says criminals should be targeted for removal by ICE, but that鈥檚 about it. 鈥淚f they鈥檙e criminals and they have a record, I agree with it,鈥� he says. 鈥淚f it鈥檚 a person who is a working person, has a family, is a provider and is a contributing member of society, I鈥檓 not OK with it.鈥�

Mr. Duran didn鈥檛 vote in November, saying he was unhappy with his choices. Erika Gonzalez, who manages a nearby barbershop with her husband, voted for Mr. Trump because she liked his tough immigration policy. Born in the U.S. to Mexican parents, she鈥檚 concerned about the strain put on public services in Chicago by large numbers of new migrants from Venezuela under President Biden.

Ms. Gonzalez supports the deportation of those with criminal records. But despite her vote for Mr. Trump, she says she鈥檚 not on board with mass deportations, especially not of immigrants who have built new lives over decades. They are her neighbors, and she doesn鈥檛 want them targeted.

鈥淭here are a lot of people who come to the USA to work, to have a better life. People follow the rules, pay taxes,鈥� she says. 鈥淪ome people have been here 30 years. They have their own house, they have a small business.... What鈥檚 going to happen to them?鈥�

The economic effect of mass deportations is a major unknown for an administration that has promised greater prosperity and lower prices. 鈥淎 lot of these people are in low-wage jobs, essential workers,鈥� says William Frey, a senior fellow at Brookings Metro in Washington who studies demographic and migratory trends.

Expelling unauthorized immigrants while putting up barriers to new arrivals also has long-term implications for the country鈥檚 aging labor force. 鈥淚f we have low immigration, the kind we had during the last Trump administration, we will have no growth in our labor-force-age population by 2035. So it鈥檚 an economic issue, not just a cultural issue,鈥� says Mr. Frey.

Mr. Trump also ordered a pause this week on immigration by refugees, who are vetted and approved before entry. In the past fiscal year, more than 100,000 refugees resettled in the U.S. More than 2 million migrants who have sought asylum in the U.S. are waiting for courts to hear their cases; the average wait for a court hearing is four years.

鈥淵ou want people to follow the laws鈥�

In Mount Greenwood, a mostly white working-class district in Chicago, disdain for the Biden administration鈥檚 handling of immigration runs deep. Mr. Trump is popular with voters who want to see action on illegal immigration and reduce its demands on city services; closing the border is also seen as essential. But even here, there are reservations about mass deportation.

Vince Picciola hasn鈥檛 voted for a Democrat for president since John F. Kennedy. He works at his family鈥檚 house-cleaning business, manning the phones. 鈥淚 always believe in law and order. If you don鈥檛 have law and order you don鈥檛 have a country,鈥� he says when asked about immigration.

Yet聽Mr. Picciola, who came to the United States from Italy in 1955, is聽forgiving of unauthorized immigrants, saying it depends who they are and their standing in society. 鈥淚f they鈥檝e been here and are well established and have a family, they should be given an opportunity to become citizens,鈥� he says.

Jim Trolia, Jr. is a director at his family鈥檚 funeral home, where he鈥檚 worked since childhood. He鈥檚 a Trump voter who wants to see the border closed and criminal immigrants sent home. He frets about the financial burden on taxpayers from a rise in new migrants in Chicago and other cities. But he wants to see humane treatment of immigrants, especially those who have lived in the U.S. for years without legal status and could now be detained under the Trump administration.

鈥淢orally, you don鈥檛 want to see good people uprooted,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut legally, you want people to follow the laws.鈥�

Back in Pilsen, Ms. Gonzalez looks out at the mostly empty streets outside the barbershop. It鈥檚 not just the cold that is keeping people indoors, she says. 鈥淧eople are scared.鈥�

Richard Mertens reported from Chicago. Simon Montlake and Caitlin Babcock reported from Washington.