Today more Americans support than oppose abolishing ICE [View all]

Source: YouGov.com

After federal immigration agents on Saturday shot and killed a Minneapolis resident for the second time this month, more Americans now say they would support abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) than say they would oppose eliminating the agency. A majority of Americans say ICE's tactics are too forceful and about half say they strongly disapprove of the way the agency is handling its job, according to a YouGov Poll conducted hours after the shooting. More Americans approve than disapprove of protests against ICE. Because the poll was conducted so soon after the shooting in Minneapolis, some respondents who were not aware of the news when they answered the questions might hear about it in subsequent days.

Another poll conducted the day after the shooting found that about half of Americans say the shooting Saturday of Alex Pretti was not justified, while only 20% said it was justified. The gap is even larger among Americans who have seen video of the shooting, nearly two-thirds of whom say it was not justified. While ICE has been the subject of protests since the first killing in Minneapolis — of Renee Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross — the shooter in this case worked for the Border Patrol, another agency in the Department of Homeland Security that was supporting ICE's operations in the city. Americans' opinions toward the Border Patrol are not as negative as views of ICE, though Americans who have seen video of the killing are more likely to have an unfavorable than a favorable opinion of the Border Patrol.

These latest results show an increase in opposition to ICE compared to two YouGov polls fielded earlier in January after the killing of Good. At that point, support for abolishing ICE was already at the highest level ever observed in YouGov polls.

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Democrats overwhelmingly support eliminating ICE (76% vs. 15%), as do nearly half of Independents (47% vs. 35%). Most Republicans (73%) continue to oppose abolishing ICE. Only 19% of Republicans support eliminating the agency, but that's a higher level than in any of the polls from earlier this month.

By Alexander Rossell Hayes
Senior data scientist
January 25, 2026, 7:50 PM GMT-5

Read more: https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/53939-more-americans-support-than-oppose-abolishing-ice-immigration-minneapolis-shooting-poll