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By Andrew Stanton
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Support for abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has surged following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent in Minnesota last week, according to a new poll.
Newsweek reached out to ICE for comment via email.
Why It Matters
ICE has faced criticism and increased scrutiny following the shooting of Good, a 37-year-old mother, in Minneapolis last week. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said that Good sought to weaponize her vehicle against the officer and that he feared for his life. But critics have disputed that characterization, arguing that video footage of the shooting shows she was attempting to drive away at the time and that the shooting was unnecessary.
Read More on Politics
Progressive Democrats have been calling for the dismantling of ICE for years, arguing it has gone rogue and that immigration enforcement operations can be handled by other agencies. But proposals to abolish the agency have not gained traction among more centrist Democrats who have argued such a move would alienate voters.
What To Know
Some Democrats have renewed their calls for ICE to be abolished following the killing of Good. Democrats, including Representative Rashida Tlaib and Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner have voiced support for dismantling the agency in the wake of the shooting.
A new poll from YouGov and The Economist released on Tuesday showed that a growing number of respondents said they are in favor of abolishing ICE. A plurality—46 percent—said they would support the proposal, while 43 percent said they were opposed the idea.
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Independents, a key voting bloc that will be central to 2026 midterm strategies, also backed abolishing the agency by a 12-point margin, with 47 percent being in support of such a move and 35 percent opposing it, according to the survey. Among those who supported President Donald Trump in 2024, just 15 percent said they support abolishing ICE.
The poll surveyed 1,602 adults from January 9 to January 12, 2026.
The numbers mark a notable jump from June 2025, when a YouGov poll found that just about a quarter of Americans supported abolishing the agency. In that poll, the proposal received support from only 27 percent of respondents, while 45 percent were in opposition.
Morris Levy, professor of political science at the University of Southern California, told Newsweek on Tuesday that the shift is not particularly surprising given backlash to Trump’s immigration policies, but added it was surprising that a plurality of voters would support abolishing the agency.
Americans tend to hold more moderate views on immigration, he said. The public wants some measures of enforcement and would oppose anything resembling open borders, but the U.S. is also relatively pro-immigration compared to other countries. Still, advocating for policies that appear to align with abolishing ICE could be an “albatross” for political candidates down the line.
Before Trump’s return to office, many Americans viewed the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border as a major issue and he was able to sweep back into office with a campaign that largely seized on the topic.
“Then, perhaps predictably, the Trump administration has pretty considerably exceeded its public mandate on this issue. Maybe not from its base but from the public as a whole,” he said. “They have been very aggressive in their tactics. There are concerns, if you dig into the polling, about ICE wrongfully apprehending and deporting legal immigrants and American citizens. There are concerns about the lawfulness of their behavior.”
While there may be a “strong temptation” for Democrats to appeal to their base and embrace calls to abolish ICE, there are still more moderate members of the party who would view that as an overreaction, he said. There may be some reversion in later polling, depending on whether similar events occur.
On Tuesday, the centrist Democratic group Third Way issued a warning to Democrats considering supporting abolishing ICE. In a memo, the group warned that embracing the policy is “lethal” politically.
“Every call to abolish ICE risks squandering one of the clearest opportunities in years to secure meaningful reform of immigration enforcement—while handing Republicans exactly the fight they want,” Third Way warned in their memo.
Democratic commentator Krystal Ball, on the other hand, wrote to X that the poll shows abolishing ICE is “now quite literally the moderate position.”
Recent Civiqs polling shows that abolishing the agency is still underwater but has gained support. On Monday, their polling showed that 49 percent of Americans oppose and 42 percent support abolishing ICE. On December 1, 2025, that number was 51 percent opposing and 41 percent supporting. When Trump took office in January 2025, that number was 60 percent opposing and 26 percent supporting.
What People Are Saying
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, who is running for Senate in Michigan, wrote to X last week: “I’ve worked alongside law enforcement to keep our communities safe. ICE is not law enforcement—it’s lawlessness in the name of Trump’s power. So like I said in 2018: Abolish ICE.”
Journalist G. Elliott Morris wrote in a Substack post last week: “It’s still a bit early after the killing of Renee Good this week to see much movement in the polls. The public will take some time to process the events, and then pollsters will have to field new surveys and process their new data. I expect there will be a modest shock in disapproval of ICE, and maybe a larger increase in the percentage of Americans who disapprove of the agency’s enforcement tactics. We’ll have to wait and see on that.”
Third Way wrote in their memo published Tuesday: “Democrats can and should be relentless in condemning unconstitutional tactics, demanding transparency and accountability, and insisting on professional standards. Enforcement must be lawful, professional, and targeted—not theatrical, indiscriminate, or cruel. Protect civil liberties. Put public safety and transparency first. That is not a retreat from enforcement. It is a defense of American values and institutions. At the same time, they need to reassure Americans that there will be vigorous enforcement of all laws at the border and in the interior.”
What Happens Next
Calls to abolish ICE may loom over the 2026 midterms as Democrats work to try to win back control of both the House and Senate. Whether more Democrats join those calls remains to be seen.
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