The Department of Homeland Security has seen a significant improvement in its job approval rating since last year, rebounding to 42% from 32% in 2024, according to a Gallup News poll released Thursday.
DHS was the main prominent federal agency with marked improvements — 42% of respondents said the job being done by the agency was either "excellent" or "good," while just 23% said it was "only fair."
However, 33% called the DHS' job "poor."
The poll follows a report from DHS and Customs and Border Protection touting preliminary enforcement numbers for September that show the lowest number of border apprehensions since 1970.
"For too long, agents and officers were handcuffed by failed policies. Today they are empowered to do their jobs — and the result is the lowest apprehensions in more than five decades and the most secure border in modern history," CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said in a Tuesday press release.
DHS said U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions at the southwest border for fiscal year 2025, which closed at the end of September, totaled 237,565.
"We have had the most secure border in American history, and our end of year numbers prove it," Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a DHS release.
"We have shattered multiple records this year, and once again we have broken a new record with the lowest number of southwest border apprehensions in 55 years.
"Under President [Donald] Trump, we have empowered and supported our law enforcement to do their job, and they have delivered."
The DHS under Trump has undergone sweeping shifts, realigning priorities toward aggressive immigration enforcement and border security.
The Gallup Poll, conducted Sept. 2-16, featured 1,000 people and had a margin of error of ±4 percentage points.
It found that ratings of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, and Internal Revenue Service have declined significantly.
The U.S. Postal Service is the only agency garnering a majority-level positive rating for its work — 40% said it was doing a "good" job, while 16% said it was doing an "excellent" job.
Majorities of Americans rate the job performance of the other 14 agencies as "only fair" or "poor."
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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