Most Americans are aware of a recent incident in which a woman in Minneapolis was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer; more than half have seen video of the event. More view the shooting as not justified than as justified. A slightly larger share of Americans are now in favor of abolishing ICE than are opposed to doing so.
What you need to know about Americans' views on ICE, as of the January 9 - 12, 2026 Economist / YouGov Poll:
- Most Americans (91%) have heard at least something about an ICE agent shooting a woman in Minneapolis last week, including 69% who say they've seen video of the incident
- By a margin of 20 percentage points, more view the shooting as not justified than as justified (50% vs. 30%)
- A majority (56%) of Americans think that both the federal and Minnesota state government should be responsible for investigating the shooting; 21% say only the federal government should be responsible and 15% say only the Minnesota government should
- More say that ICE is making Americans less safe than more safe (47% vs. 34%). Views differ sharply by party: 87% of Democrats say ICE is making Americans less safe while 77% of Republicans say it's making Americans safer
- Americans are divided on abolishing ICE; slightly more are strongly or somewhat in favor of doing so than are opposed (46% vs. 43%)
- 77% of Democrats support abolishing ICE while 79% of Republicans oppose it
- In 2025, 2019, and 2018, we've asked a similar question — "Do you support or oppose abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and replacing it with a different agency?" — and found each time that more Americans oppose than support abolishing ICE and replacing it
- A majority (56%) of Americans believe that ICE officers should not be allowed to wear masks that hide their identities when making arrests; 32% say they should be allowed to do so
- Views on this issue are little changed compared to the first time we asked about it in July 2025 and the last time we asked in October 2025
- Net approval of Donald Trump's handling of immigration is -7, meaning Americans are 7 percentage points more likely to strongly or somewhat disapprove of his handling of the issue than to approve
- At this stage of Trump's first term, net approval of his handling of immigration was -9
- At the start of this term, it was +11
- Vice President JD Vance, who said after the ICE shooting that the shooter is "protected by absolute immunity," is viewed very or somewhat favorably by 36% of Americans and unfavorably by 52%
- His net favorability of -16 is his lowest as vice president
- It's not clear from the data if the dip is connected to the ICE shooting, and it could reverse itself by the next time Vance's favorability is asked about
- 8% of Americans name immigration as their most important issue
- That's little changed from a week earlier and well behind inflation/prices (24%) and jobs and the economy (16%)
See other YouGov polling about ICE conducted after the recent shooting in Minnesota
Image: Getty (Stephen Maturen / Stringer)
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