Newly released polling suggests a clear majority of Americans support Immigration and Customs Enforcement and believe agents should be allowed to do their work without interference.
About 57% of Americans say ICE agents “should be able to do their job without being impeded or harassed,” according to a survey by Plymouth Union Public Research. The poll measured public views on President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda and how deportation officers are treated, and it found broad agreement that illegal immigration is an issue the government should confront.
“Voters broadly see illegal immigration as a serious issue that President Trump is properly addressing,” the survey states. “There is clear openness for enforcement measures and general approval of the current approach, especially efforts to disrupt cartels and hold foreign actors accountable.”
The survey also found that backing for enforcement efforts extends to the officers carrying them out.
“Support extends to ICE officers enforcing these policies. Voters emphasize respect for their service and the need to let them do their jobs,” the findings say. “By contrast, organized efforts to obstruct enforcement draw limited sympathy and appear confined to a small but vocal slice of the electorate.”
Respondents also rated border enforcement as a high priority. The survey reports that 74% consider fighting illegal immigration “an important issue” for both President Donald Trump and Congress to address, while 7% said it is “not important at all.”
The poll found similar majorities viewing ICE work as risky and tied to public safety: 58% said agents put their lives on the line to keep the public safe, and 57% said ICE agents have the “dangerous job of keeping us safe from violent criminals.” A narrow majority—51%—said they approve of using ICE agents to combat illegal immigration.
“Overall, the center of public opinion favors the America First message of fighting illegal immigration and supporting ICE agents protecting our communities,” the survey concluded.
The results arrive during a tense period for the agency, following a deadly, ICE-involved shooting in Minneapolis earlier in January. Renee Good was shot by an ICE agent during an enforcement operation after she appeared to obstruct the action and allegedly drove into an ICE agent in front of her, prompting the agent to fire defensive shots.
Since then, Minneapolis has seen sustained anti-ICE demonstrations, with protests also spreading to other major U.S. cities. Minnesota Democrats have filed suit seeking to remove ICE agents from the state, and congressional Democrats have warned they may move to withhold funding unless major reforms are enacted.
Plymouth Union Public Research said the survey sampled 1,000 likely general-election voters nationwide, with a margin of error of 3.1%. The respondents were evenly divided by party identification: 40% Republican, 40% Democrat, and 20% independent.
Other surveys, however, reportedly suggest support for Trump’s broader immigration agenda is weakening. Internal GOP polling reviewed by the president’s inner circle earlier in January found that 60% of independent voters and 58% of undecided voters felt Trump was “too focused” on deporting illegal migrants, according to Axios.
