Americans largely disapprove of the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as recent enhanced enforcement operations spread to new cities across the country, a new PBS News/NPR/Marist Poll found. A majority say ICE is making Americans less safe, and a growing number believe the agency's actions have gone too far.
Meanwhile, anti-ICE protests that have grown in size and visibility in recent weeks are viewed by a majority of Americans as mostly legitimate and not unlawful.
Six in 10 Americans disapprove of the job ICE is doing, while about 3 in 10 approve. Opinions about the agency and its actions are sharply divided along political lines, with 91% of Democrats and 66% of independents registering their disapproval. Republicans, however, remain supportive, with 73% approving of the agency's work.
Six in 10 Americans disapprove of the job ICE is doing, while about 3 in 10 approve, according to the latest PBS News/NPR/Marist Poll. Graphic by Steff Staples/PBS News.
The situation has put President Donald Trump in an "untenable position," said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion.
Pictures and videos of armed and masked immigration agents detaining people, including U.S. citizens, on the streets of American cities have flooded social media in recent weeks. As Americans see those recent arrests, as well as shootings, from multiple angles, the "bad imagery" has led to a dramatic shift in support.
"Questions rise in people's minds as to whether this is a good policy," Miringoff said.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents in the latest poll – 65% – feel ICE has gone too far in enforcing immigration laws, a jump from 54% last June, when the Trump administration began enhanced enforcement efforts in Los Angeles. That's driven largely by Democrats and independents, but a growing share of Republicans say the same.
Another 22% of respondents say the agency's actions are about right, compared to 26% last year. The percentage that believes ICE is not going far enough in its efforts dropped from 18% to 12% today.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents in the latest PBS News/NPR/Marist poll – 65% – feel ICE has gone too far in enforcing immigration laws, a jump from 54% last June, when the Trump administration began enhanced enforcement efforts in Los Angeles. Graphic by Steff Staples/PBS News.
The latest poll was conducted in the days that followed the killing of Alex Pretti by Customs and Border Protection agents in Minneapolis, the second fatal shooting of an American citizen by federal immigration officials in the city this year.
Pretti's death – and public outcry over the aggressive tactics of agents – sparked a shakeup in the administration's immigration efforts. Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino, who had overseen the crackdown in Minneapolis and other cities, was removed from his post and replaced with White House border czar Tom Homan, whom Trump personally dispatched to be the public face of the operation.
WATCH: 'No excuse' for immigration agents' excess use of force, says former DHS head Napolitano
Homan said Wednesday that because of "unprecedented collaboration" between local authorities and ICE, 700 federal immigration agents would leave Minnesota immediately, leaving about 2,000 personnel behind for now. In one of the more notable shifts in recent days, ICE agents have been able to take custody of undocumented immigrants directly from local jails before they are released, which Homan called "smart law enforcement" that requires fewer officers to be deployed on the city's streets.
Reporters raise their hands to ask questions during a Jan. 29 press conference with White House border czar Tom Homan in Minneapolis, Minnesota. File photo by Shannon Stapleton/ Reuters
Trump's tone about immigration also shifted again this week. He said in a Wednesday interview with NBC News that the federal response could use a "bit of a softer touch" while still remaining "tough."
"The White House has blinked on Minneapolis," Miringoff said about the recent changes in leadership and scope of the operation. "They need to change the narrative."
While the Department of Homeland Security insists agents are focused on removing the "worst of the worst" undocumented immigrants with criminal records, high-profile cases, including the detention of 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos of Minneapolis, have drawn new attention and renewed scrutiny on the tactics used to enforce immigration laws and who the federal government is removing.
A majority of Americans – 62% – believe ICE's actions are making Americans less safe. Another 37%, including 77% of Republicans, say America is more safe.
What Republicans are saying about immigration enforcement under Trump
Members of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other law enforcement officials stand guard during a Jan. 17 protest in front of the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Minneapolis, more than a week after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good. Photo by Seth Herald/Reuters.
The recent scenes from Minneapolis, including the shootings of Pretti and Renee Good, have caused some people who voted for Trump to rethink their support.
Oscar Gomez, 34, who has lived in California his entire life, is a three-time Trump voter who has supported the president since he first ran in 2016. Gomez said he now regrets his vote and no longer supports the president's actions.
"It's kind of sad how, even as a U.S. citizen, you can still fear for your life," he said.
Gomez said that he supported the president's 2024 campaign promise to prioritize deporting immigrants with criminal records. But instead, Gomez said, the Trump administration is trying to remove "anyone who they see as brown."
"He's not after criminals anymore. He's dividing families at this point," Gomez said. "He's focused on the wrong issues."
People take part in a demonstration Jan. 25, a day after federal immigration agents fatally shot Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Photo by Shannon Stapleton/Reuters
Other Trump voters said the administration should be going further in its enforcement efforts.
Jessica Osuna, 63, moved to Texas from New Mexico with her family two years ago. She, too, voted for Trump in 2016, 2020 and 2024 and echoes the president's unsubstantiated claims that undocumented immigrants are more likely to commit crimes than U.S. citizens.
"They shouldn't even be here," she said of people who entered the country illegally. "They're breaking a law. They didn't do it the right way."
After the recent fatal shootings and other incidents in Minneapolis, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Monday that all immigration agents in the city will wear body cameras during operations, with the policy likely expanding to other cities.
WATCH: Jeffries outlines Democrats' demands for changes at DHS and ICE amid funding battle
Lawmakers are engaged in a heated debate over potential reforms that Democrats and some Republicans would like to see to ICE and DHS. ICE's policies and tactics held up a recent government funding bill, resulting in a short-term partial shutdown. Though a deal was eventually struck to fund most of the government, DHS funding is set to expire again at the end of next week unless Congress can agree on new restrictions.
Democrats are also pushing to require immigration agents to carry identification, take off the masks many regularly wear and require judicial warrants for many of their actions.
In the latest PBS News/NPR/Marist poll, 59% percent of Americans say the protests of ICE are mostly legitimate; another 40% believe they are mostly people acting unlawfully.
In the meantime, tens of thousands of people have protested immigration actions in Minneapolis and other cities. In this poll, 59% percent of Americans say the protests are mostly legitimate; another 40% believe they are mostly people acting unlawfully.
Like 75% of Republicans, Osuna, the Trump supporter in Texas, believes the protesters have gone too far. The use of whistles and air horns to disrupt immigration agents should be illegal, she said.
"It sets something off in your brain, and of course, then that's when all the chaos starts," she said. "When they say, 'Stop,' you need to stop. You need to follow their directions. You need to listen to them. If you don't, then, in my opinion, they have a right to protect themselves."
Why Trump's 'policies are a drag on him right now' – and what that might mean for midterms
President Donald Trump and members of his administration attend a cabinet meeting Jan. 29 at the White House in Washington, D.C. Photo by Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters.
Overall, the president's approval rating has held steady, even as the administration's immigration enforcement tactics have dominated public attention. The percentage of Americans who approve of the job he is doing is nearly identical to that of the month before (39% compared to 38% in January). Another 56% disapprove of his job performance.
Strikingly, 51% say they strongly disapprove. That's the highest share who have said that since Trump reentered the Oval Office last year. It's a level of disapproval matched in Marist polling only in the days after a mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Trump's support among Republicans remains high, at 85%, but his support among Black, Latino and young voters – all groups that moved his direction in the 2024 election – has continued to diminish.
"It's a difference between him and his policies. And he doesn't change," Miringoff said. "He's still the Donald Trump that people loved and hated. But the policies are a drag on him right now."
About 39 percent of Americans approve of the job President Donald Trump is doing in office. Fifty-six percent disapprove. Graphic by Dan Cooney/PBS News.
By a 2-to-1 margin, more Americans say they would like Trump to spend more time prioritizing the economy and lowering the prices of goods than want him to prioritize controlling immigration.
The percentage of Americans who disapprove of Trump's handling of the economy has slowly ticked up in his second term. Now, nearly 6 in 10 respondents disapprove – the highest of either of his terms in office and a higher level of disapproval than his predecessor Joe Biden measured at any point during his presidency.
Tariffs on various imported goods, which the Trump administration has levied and waived regularly, are one of the tent-pole issues of his second-term economic policy.
More than half of Americans say tariffs mostly hurt the U.S. economy, a number that has jumped 8 percentage points since last March. Another 31% say tariffs are mostly helpful.
If his administration's policies remain on the same path over the next several months, frustrations among voters are likely to have a negative impact on Republican candidates in November's midterm elections, Miringoff warns.
"It can make some swing-state and swing-district Republicans have to scurry for cover," he said. And as a result many could be seeking to put "a little distance between themselves and Trump."
Other key findings from the latest PBS News/NPR/Marist poll:
- Two-thirds of Americans oppose the U.S. trying to take control of Greenland, which Trump has prominently pushed during his second term.
- A majority (56%) have a favorable opinion of the NATO alliance, which includes Denmark and its territory Greenland. Another 20% have an unfavorable view.
- Does the U.S benefit from being a member of NATO? Two-thirds say yes.
- 72% of Americans think the president should have to consult Congress before taking military action, which Trump did not do before a recent incursion into Venezuela to arrest the sitting President Nicolás Maduro.
PBS News, NPR and Marist Poll conducted a survey from Jan. 27 through Jan. 30, 2026, that polled 1,462 U.S. adults by phone, text and online with a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points, and 1,326 registered voters with a margin of error of 3.0 percentage points.