Half of Americans back abolishing ICE amid Trump crackdown, poll finds

Half of Americans back abolishing ICE amid Trump crackdown, poll finds YouGov poll shows 50% support as Kristi Noem defends ‘terrorist’ claim and shutdown drags on Half of Americans support the abolition of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, a new poll has found, as opposition to Donald Trump’s aggressive federal immigration crackdown continues to grow. The analysis by YouGov revealed that exactly 50% of respondents “strongly or somewhat” want to see the agency dismantled, a 5% rise from a January poll taken between the deaths in Minnesota of US citizen protesters Renee Good and Alex Pretti by immigration officers. Only 39% said they opposed abolishing ICE, a significant drop from January when those for and against were evenly split at 45%. The latest poll is the first time that the number of Americans calling for scrapping the agency, a frequent demand of left-wing Democrats, has reached 50%, YouGov said. It mirrors an NBC poll last month that showed 49% disapproval of Trump’s handling of border security and immigration, traditionally a vote winner from his Republican base. The revelation comes amid an ongoing partial government shutdown over funding of the homeland security department responsible for implementing the Trump administration’s often violent detention and deportation policies. It also follows a rocky appearance before Congress on Tuesday by Kristi Noem , the homeland security secretary, who came under fire from representatives on both sides of the House. She was challenged on her handling of immigration matters, and the fatal shootings during anti-immigration enforcement protests in Minneapolis of Good , on 7 January by an ICE agent, and Pretti 17 days later by officers from US Customs and Border Protection . Noem refused to retract her statements calling the two unarmed protesters “domestic terrorists”, despite presenting no evidence to support the assertion. “When we have these situations happen, we always offer our condolences to those ...