Recent polling conducted in the wake of the fatal ICE shooting in Minnesota last week shows that support among Americans for Immigration and Customs Enforcement has plummeted, and at such a rate as to leave online critics stunned at how the agency has now become “politically toxic.”
“ICE is not doing well,” wrote X user “HistoryBoomer,” who runs the political commentary Substack “Stuff Happens.” “Midterms will be interesting.”
Recent polling has shown that a majority of Americans now disapprove of ICE. A new YouGov poll found that 52% of Americans disapprove of ICE, and a Quinnipiac poll found that 57% disapproved. Furthermore, a plurality of Americans now support abolishing the federal agency entirely.
“The most stunning [alarm] for the Trump administration: ICE is now politically toxic,” wrote Democratic strategist Matt McDermott in a social media post on X Friday. “2 in 3 independents and even 1 in 4 Republicans view it negatively. Not sure a federal agency has ever become this radioactive this fast.”
As for the fatal ICE shooting of Renee Good, 52% of Americans said the shooting wasn’t justified, compared with 36% who said it was justified, according to a recent Data For Progress poll, though the results were split along party lines. Just 8% of Democrats said Good’s killing was justified, compared with 68% of Republicans who backed the shooting.
“Support for Trump’s Immigration crackdown is cratering as chaos from ICE and [Customs and Border Protection] enforcement turns off more and more Americans,” wrote X user “Maine,” a self-described “radical centrist” political commentator who’s amassed more than 108,000 followers.