More Americans support abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency than at any point since it was established in 2003, new polling shows.
According to data examined by Civiqs, 42 percent support getting rid of the agency while 50 percent oppose doing so, a split of just 8 points. This represents a major shift from a year ago, at the start of President Donald Trump’s second term, when only 24 percent of Americans supported abolishing ICE and 59 percent opposed the idea, a 35-point split.
The 27-point change over the past year comes as Trump uses the agency to terrorize immigrant communities and overrun U.S. cities in the name of his mass deportation campaign, often using tactics that are not only harmful but illegal.
Polling indicates Americans are opposed to Trump’s tactics on immigration, despite it once being an issue Trump viewed as popular during the 2024 presidential campaign.
According to a December AP-NORC poll, just 38 percent of Americans approve of Trump’s job performance when it comes to the issue of immigration. Conversely, 60 percent disapprove of how he’s performed on the issue.
A Pew Research poll from October asked respondents their views on deportation in general. Only 36 percent said the Trump administration was deporting immigrants at a rate they described as the “right amount.” Meanwhile, 53 percent said the administration was seeking to deport immigrants at a rate that was “too much.”
More recently, in the wake of an ICE agent shooting and killing Minneapolis resident Renee Nicole Good last week, polling from YouGov shows that most Americans are upset with the federal agency, with a snap poll conducted on the day of her death finding 52 percent disapproving of ICE and 39 percent approving.
Additional polling from YouGov that day found that 51 percent of Americans believe the tactics used by ICE agents are too forceful, with only a quarter of respondents (27 percent) believing they are about right.
ICE’s popularity rating, now in the negatives, has reversed significantly since Trump took office, as the current -13-point approval number is a stark change from the +16-point rating the agency had before the Trump administration took power.
As data journalist G. Elliott Morris explained, the reason for Americans’ shift in opinion is simple.
“The growing backlash to ICE is a byproduct of people learning about the agency’s enforcement tactics,” he recently wrote, adding:
Over the past year, the more people have seen of ICE, the more they have soured on it. The Trump administration’s tactics have horrified persuadable voters and made even some Republicans uncomfortable.
“This is what happens when an extreme president enacts an extreme agenda,” Morris elaborated, “when the consequences of that extremity are visual, visceral, and plastered across the news and social media on a daily basis.”
Press freedom is under attack
As Trump cracks down on political speech, independent media is increasingly necessary.
Truthout produces reporting you won’t see in the mainstream: journalism from the frontlines of global conflict, interviews with grassroots movement leaders, high-quality legal analysis and more.
Our work is possible thanks to reader support. Help Truthout catalyze change and social justice — make a tax-deductible monthly or one-time donation today.