46% of Americans support abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the death of a woman by shots fired by her officers in Minnesotaas revealed by a survey by YouGov and The Economist, the first to show more people in favor of eliminating this agency.
The survey is the first to show that there are more Americans who support the end of ICE than those who oppose it, since 43% of those surveyed said they were against abolishing the agency, created in 2003 by then-President George W. Bush (2001-2009) after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
In addition, 47% of those surveyed considered that ICE is making Americans “less safe,” compared to 34% who thought it creates “more security.”
The survey was conducted from January 9 to 12 following the death on January 7 of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old white American citizen who died after being shot by ICE agents during an operation in Minneapolis, sparking nationwide protests against the agency.
The Donald Trump Administration has accused the woman of “domestic terrorism” because, according to officials, she tried to run over ICE agents with her vehicle, but local authorities have denied this narrative, noting that the videos show that she tried to drive away, but the officers followed her.
In this regard, half of Americans, 50%, thought that the shooting of Good was not “justified”, while less than a third, 30%, considered it “justified” and the rest said they were not sure, according to the YouGov and The Economist survey.
In addition, the opinion study showed that almost three-quarters of the population, 73%, think that ICE should wear uniforms in their arrests, and 56% expressed that they should not be allowed to wear masks, as people detained by the agency have reported.
Almost half, 49%, expressed “very little” confidence in ICE, compared to 15% who expressed “a great deal of confidence” and 17% who reported “a lot.”
The incident has increased the scrutiny of progressive Democrats towards the agency, as federal Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez reiterated this Tuesday that her position is still to abolish ICE.
But ICE announced last week that its force grew by 120% after hiring 12,000 agents, which will now total 22,000, thanks to the “big, beautiful law” that Trump signed last year and that will make it the largest security agency in the United States.
The survey was conducted among 1,602 Americans with digital interviews and a margin of error of 3.3%.
