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.
Opposition to ICE has grown in January
More Americans support than oppose abolishing ICE (46% vs. 41%). This marks a slight increase from earlier this month, when three YouGov polls found that the share of Americans who supported eliminating ICE as a federal agency was roughly equal to the share who opposed it: 46% to 43% in one poll, 42% vs. 45% in another, and 45% vs. 45% in a third.
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.
A majority (57%) of Americans somewhat or strongly disapprove of the way ICE is handling its job. Only 37% approve. Among Americans who have strong opinions about ICE, the divide is even starker. About half (48%) of Americans strongly disapprove, twice as many as the share who strongly approve: about one-quarter (23%).
Majorities of Democrats (83%) and Independents (54%) strongly disapprove of the way ICE is handling its job. In contrast, about half (51%) of Republicans strongly approve of ICE's job handling and only 7% strongly disapprove.
Views of ICE's tactics may contribute to the growing disapproval of the agency. A majority (58%) of Americans say that ICE's tactics are too forceful. That's a 5-percentage-point increase from earlier this month, when 53% said ICE was too forceful. Today, only 23% of Americans say that ICE's tactics are about right and 10% say they are not forceful enough.
Most Democrats (90%) and Independents (62%) say that ICE is too forceful. Republicans are much more likely to say that ICE's tactics are about right (49%). The remaining Republicans are about evenly split between saying ICE is too forceful and saying that it is not forceful enough (22% vs. 21%). Very few Democrats or Independents say that ICE is not forceful enough.
About half (49%) of Americans somewhat or strongly approve of protests against ICE actions, compared to 41% who disapprove. Most Democrats (79%) approve of such protests. Independents are more likely to approve than disapprove of them (49% vs. 35%). In contrast, only 20% of Republicans approve of protests against ICE, while 71% disapprove. Support for protests against ICE is essentially unchanged from earlier in January.
Few Americans think the shooting of Alex Pretti was justified
About half (48%) of Americans say the shooting of Pretti on Saturday in Minneapolis was not justified, while only 20% say it was justified. The gap is even larger among the majority (58%) of Americans who have seen video of the shooting. Nearly two-thirds (63%) of those who have seen video of the shooting say it was not justified, compared to just one-quarter (25%) who say it was not justified. This is similar to the results of an experiment conducted by YouGov with the Economist after the first shooting in Minneapolis: People who were shown a video of the shooting were more likely to say it was not justified. It also may reflect that more Democrats than Republicans have seen video of the shooting.
Democrats overwhelmingly say the shooting was not justified (83%), as do half of Independents (50%, compared to 13% who say it was justified). Republicans are much more likely to say the shooting was justified. The share of Republicans who say the shooting was justified (44%) is about the same as the share who say they're not sure if it was justified (43%). Few Republicans (13%) say the shooting was not justified.
Americans are slightly more likely to express favorable than unfavorable opinions of the Border Patrol (45% vs. 42%), the agency whose officer killed a man in Minneapolis on Saturday. This can largely be attributed to Republicans' extremely positive evaluations of the agency: 83% of Republicans view the agency favorably, while only 7% have unfavorable opinions. In contrast, Independents are more likely to view the Border Patrol unfavorably than to view it favorably (48% vs. 34%) and most Democrats (73%) have unfavorable opinions of the agency while only 17% view it favorably.
Americans who have seen video of Saturday's shooting are much more likely to express negative views of the Border Patrol: A majority (53%) of Americans who have seen video of the shooting have an unfavorable opinion of the Border Patrol, compared to 41% who view the agency favorably. On the other hand, 52% of Americans who have not seen video of the shooting have a favorable opinion of the Border Patrol, while only 31% express an unfavorable opinion of the agency.
— Carl Bialik contributed to this article
Related articles:
- How watching video of the Minneapolis ICE shooting affects Americans' polarized views
- After the shooting in Minneapolis, majorities of Americans view ICE unfavorably and support major changes to the agency
- More Americans view the ICE shooting in Minnesota as unjustified than say it is justified
- Majorities of Americans disapprove of ICE and say the agency mistreats citizens and immigrants
Methodology:
The first Daily Questions survey was conducted online on January 24, 2026, among 3,359 U.S. adults. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, U.S. census region, and political party. The margin of error for the survey is approximately 2 points.
See the results of this poll:
- Do you approve or disapprove of how Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is handling its job?
- Do you approve or disapprove of recent protests against ICE actions?
- How would you describe the tactics currently used by ICE?
- Would you support or oppose abolishing ICE?
A second Daily Questions survey was conducted online on January 25, 2026, among 3,834 U.S. adults. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, U.S. census region, and political party. The margin of error for the survey is approximately 2 points.
See the results of this poll:
- Do you have a favorable or an unfavorable opinion of Border Patrol?
- Did you see any videos of Border Patrol agents shooting a man in Minneapolis on Saturday?
- Based on what you know, was the shooting of the man in Minneapolis justified or not justified?
- Who should be responsible for investigating the shooting?
Image: Getty (Stephen Maturen / Stringer)
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