this post was submitted on 13 Jan 2026
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ICE’s approval rating among Americans currently sits at negative 13 points, a recent poll revealed.

More Americans support abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency than at any point since it was established in 2003, new polling shows.

According to data examined by Civiqs, 42% support getting rid of the agency while 50% oppose doing so, a split of just 8 points. This represents a major shift from a year ago, at the start of Donald Trump’s second term, when only 24% of Americans supported abolishing ICE and 59% opposed the idea, a 35-point split.

The 27-point change over the past year comes as Trump uses the agency to terrorize immigrant communities and overrun U.S. cities in the name of his mass deportation campaign, often using tactics that are not only harmful but illegal.

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[–] FenderStratocaster@lemmy.world 89 points 2 days ago (3 children)

I'm so tired of hearing about polling data.

[–] fizzle@quokk.au 47 points 2 days ago (1 children)

"A little more than half of Americans are wondering whether things are sub-optimal!"

[–] FenderStratocaster@lemmy.world 21 points 2 days ago (1 children)

"A fraction of Americans think politics are headed in a direction."

[–] Kn1ghtDigital@lemmy.zip 6 points 2 days ago

"Does garlic salt make you more gayer-er? One Florida man feeds their alligator to find out."

[–] arrow74@lemmy.zip 7 points 2 days ago

Yeah everything being almost a clear 50/50 split between should we have a democracy or should we be fascists is not good.

With 3-8% undecided

[–] Mantzy81@aussie.zone 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Glad I wasn't the only one who thought "does everything have to be a poll?"

It's like those Japanese gameshows with a "reaction" window of the "famous talent" so everyone is told how the action on screen is supposed to make them feel.

[–] lennybird@lemmy.world 12 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I mean data is good, right? "Knowledge is power"? Maybe it's the engineer in me but getting many snapshots in time and seeing the trends is kind of important. I'll take this over anecdotal speculation any day.

[–] Mantzy81@aussie.zone 1 points 2 days ago

Whilst I agree in some senses, I also question their use. It doesn't really matter until there's an election and even then, they seem to be often wrong as people don't vote logically and often against their interests.

These kinds of polls are more for people to say "phew, I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't like ICE". It's a peace-of-mind poll which achieves nothing of actual substance.

[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 14 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Times like this, I really wish I lived in a democratic country

[–] AngryRobot@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Are you ready for rushing style elections in November?

[–] TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zone 52 points 2 days ago (4 children)

I don't care who is president, they ain't abolishing ICE. The fed govt won't give up this power now that it's been granted it. Just ask em to undo the Patriot Act while you're at it.

[–] Skiluros@sh.itjust.works 13 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Here is a counter-arguement. It is the responsibility of the citizens to make sure things like the Patriot Act or ICE are used in a fair manner with oversight and restrictions.

The notion that "the government" is some external entity is an easy and satisfying polemic, but it's not helpful in a practical sense.

Yeah you could probably ask all these people if they'll go vote to change any of it and half would go "Well..."

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Just ask em to undo the Patriot Act while you’re at it.

Unironically, yeah, we can do that.

We're gonna get the first fair Dem presidential primary in decades, and in the general the "not maga" vote that even got Biden elected in 2020.

If we spend time telling progressives to vote in the primary, we can have a FDR style candidate. If we keep shiting on the current party for what it's predecessors did, then it'll depress primary turnout and that same wing snatches the party back.

[–] zebidiah@lemmy.ca 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

We're gonna get the first fair Dem presidential primary in decades, and in the general the "not maga" vote that even got Biden elected in 2020

Lol we're gonna get Gavin fucking newsom

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

If people tune out of the primary, which is why the most important thing right now is making people aware the party changed directions.

Billionaire owned media won't tell anyone

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[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 35 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Meaning that still not all Americans do

What. The. Fuck.

[–] I_Jedi@lemmy.today 16 points 2 days ago

Having a group you can join where you can kill almost any individual you want is incredibly alluring for some.

For example, employment with ICE helps incels greatly. If some woman has offended you, then you can anonymous tip ICE, bring some other ICE guys with you to wherever she is, and kill her. "Uhhhh, she pulled a gun on me! I was so scared I shot her 20 times in the chest!"

I am certain that a lot of people in the US wish they could have power over life and death like ICE does. If ICE (and similar organizations) are abolished, the power to kill people without any recourse will be weakened.

[–] angstylittlecatboy@reddthat.com 8 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

My guess is that another ~10%, many of whom probably don't know that ICE hasn't existed for a very long time and that it's post-9/11 power grab bullshit, just want to reduce it's powers to what they were doing before Trump because they think it's neccessry for anti-terrorism or something.

(I support abolishing ICE 100% btw, but we gotta learn how to communicate to that other 10%...my mom is against abolishing ICE and she spends more time complaining about Trump than I do.)

[–] Formfiller@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Yeah we’re literally surrounded by dead eyed brainwashed nazi enablers. It’s almost impossible to reason with these propagandized imbeciles when were up against a Zionist billionaire funded propaganda machine

[–] Raiderkev@lemmy.world 17 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Ngl, when people spoke of abolishing ICE in years past, I thought it was an extremist take. I was always of the mindset that you can't just have an open border, and you need someone to man the border. Having said that, this current iteration needs to be abolished in every way, shape, and form.

[–] Pacattack57@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago

One of the biggest lies ever told is we can’t have open borders. The reason so many people overstay their visas is because they won’t be able to come back if they leave. Very few of them want to stay. They would prefer to work for a season and go back home with money and the favorable exchange rate.

The issue with immigration is not the illegals. It is the corporations that illegally work undocumented people. They are actively incentivizing them to come into this country. Tyson chicken is one of the largest employers of illegal immigrants in this country and no administration has does ANYTHING about it. If there was no work, people wouldn’t come.

[–] brown567@sh.itjust.works 5 points 2 days ago

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) could probably fill in, tho they're also part of the DHS so under the current admin it wouldn't be much better

[–] Gates9@sh.itjust.works 18 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Frankly the entire DHS is a redundant duplication of agencies that already existed. The reason for this is because the rich need a domestic secret/military police that can go door-to-door arresting dissidents, organizers, and protesters labeled “domestic terrorists”, and violently put down mass protests.

It’s also a graft scheme so assholes like Michael Chertoff, Tom Homan, and Krist Noem can rip off tax payers.

Well basically everything but the Coast Guard who I am convinced was shoved in there to try to build resistance to just dissolving the DHS.

[–] HazardousBanjo@lemmy.world 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

50% oppose doing so

It will never cease to amaze me just how incredibly and willfully uninformed the average American is.

Yes, millions (mostly Republicans) support ICE, but how many millions are total NPCs who genuinely have never had a conscious thought in their entire life? How many is it questionable as to whether they've ever developed object permanence?

This is why we need colossal and organized protests. Because the hyper majority of these dumbfuck Americans would have NEVER even known anything was wrong if they didn't see all the protesting.

Not because they're isolated from its consequences, but because they genuinely do not form any thoughts independently. They truly are the absolute dumbest fucking people who exist that haven't forgotten how to eat or breathe.

[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago

Remember, ~21% of American adults are functionally illiterate. Pair that with nearly 1 in 3 adults have rather low-level numeracy ( https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2020/2020025/index.asp ).

I'd not be surprised if low literacy and low numeracy cluster with lack of critical thinking skills and the fundamentals of morality.

Then add in all the many many distractions - celebrity/"influencer" culture, movies, TV, video games, and the old standby: sports and gambling.

It's no wonder a whole lot of people are tuned out and have no idea what is going on.

[–] OshagHennessey@lemmy.world 7 points 2 days ago

Most American citizens are overwhelmingly united on many issues.

Unfortunately, most American politicians are overwhelmingly united on NOT giving us what we want.

[–] Suavevillain@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago

It is good people want to Abolish ICE. But you still have to deal with bipartisan obsessed Dems who won't ever agree to it.

[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago (3 children)

50% oppose doing so

I don't know if I'd support abolishing them. But I would definitely support reeling them in, defunding them by a lot, and having a lot more oversight, including from the states, on where they can go, and how they are used. All the cosplaying bullshit should be taken away from them (and cops, too) - the militarization is just ridiculous.

And for sure - none of these fuckers should be masked. Not ONE of them should be allowed to do that job anonymously.

If those changes are not on the table, yeah, abolish ICE.

So I really wonder how that 50% looks if you were to dig in. Probably a LOT of nuance in there.

[–] Psythik@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Their only job is to enforce a law that has made it a crime to be a brown person from another country who is just trying to make a better life for themselves. We don't need ICE. Their job only exists because of racism. It should not me as difficult as it is to become a legal citizen in the US. Very few people would be here illegally if the path to citizenship wasn't so god damn difficult to begin with.

[–] CainTheLongshot@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago

I saw a reel today from what i consider a credible enough source, (still plan to look this up but i feel it's credible enough to base this comment on).

There's a major problem that needs to be dealt with when talking about any kind of enforcement.

Firstly, US citizens DO NOT require to have any form of ID or papers on them, at all, for any reason. Yet visa holders, immigrants, vacationers, etc, have to carry their papers AT ALL TIME or that's a federal violation.

Secondly, ICE has no jurisdiction over US citizens. If they ask me anything, i don't have to comply. As long at I'm not interfering with their job, as to be arrested for obstruction of justice. Their job is solely to enforce immigration laws.

So the problem this creates is that they can just claim I'm not a citizen and arrest me for not having proper documentation. Best case scenario, they look me up in the system, see I'm a citizen, and let me go. Worst case? Well, yeah, we are seeing that unfold every day in the news.

Boot lickers will say, well just carry your ID, and comply! And miss the entire point. There's due process violations happening all across the country, people being arrested just because, to intimidate us into cowering in a corner while they kidnap and torture folks. So either we cave and start to carry our IDs, which won't help when they claim it's a fake ID, and allow them to ratchet up again to only allowing certain people to have IDs, or whatever fascist BS they have planned next for their white, christian ethnostate.

Or no one needs to carry around an ID and just abolish ICE all together because we don't need to enforce immigration laws, just make it easier. Think of the extra tax dollars that could be had if non citizens could spend their money without worrying about being deported! Plus the extra money for not paying another useless enforcement agency. For those one off cases, i would rather a percentage go to the FBI for a division that investigates non citizen crime, and let the courts handle deportations.

We don’t need ICE. We’ve got so many overlapping alphabet agencies we don’t need yet another bloated gestapo. ICE, CBP, USCIS, etc. a warrant to a local PD to arrest someone should be sufficient, not a convoy of masked military cosplay racists shooting people because their fee fees got hurt.

[–] awfulawful@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I think it would be more effective to get rid of ICE and use those resources to properly fund the immigration court system, so it can process cases much more quickly.

There is the bigger issue of addressing the causes also. Over a century of destabilizing its neighbors to exploit them for private profit and keep them firmly within the US sphere of influence has predicability created a lot of migration. Fixing that will take many years though.

[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yeah, all good points. The conservatives only like to talk about people "invading" the country "only" for things like economic ones (in other words, finding a job). They don't like to talk about any systemic things and how things like NAFTA might have created such conditions...

Anyway, yeah, depending on the options of either shrinking ICE to a fraction of their funding and size and constraining them in a sane way, or the plan to outright abolish them - the implementation would matter a great deal as to what would make the most sense.

If it's done smash-and-grab style like the fake "doge" group did, I don't think that'd be good. If there are actual plans to spin down staff and transition responsibilities and data to other appropriate group(s), being led by someone that actually knows something - that'd be the right way.

[–] awfulawful@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 2 days ago

Normally I'd concur wholeheartedly. I have concerns about the culture that has permeated ICE and whether it can effectively be resolved through reorganization. Perhaps specific functions can be spun off into a new or existing department.

[–] lennybird@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Good sign overall ahead of midterms this year. I'd much rather this than see more of the country cheering this on.

Register and vote Democrat.

Edit: Democratic Primaries are coming first, and IF you don't know for a fact that your state has Open Primaries, then you must register Democrat in order to try to vote in more progressive Democratic candidates and vote out aipac trash from the party.

Edit 2: Whew, lots of wedge-driving bots from .ml and hexbear asserting classic false-equivalence whataboutism fallacies in order to sow defeatism and apathy.

[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 10 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Register unaffiliated. Vote Democrat.

Especially if you're in a red or Trump x 3 state.

Texas sent their voter registration list to DHS. We can all take wild guesses as to what they are going to do with it...but personally, I don't want to be on a curated list of "political ~~targets~~ opponents".

[–] lennybird@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I understand your concern, though one should register as a Democrat at least temporarily unless you know your state has Open Primaries if you want to reform the Democratic party.

If you want to vote to get AIPAC and corporate Dems out in primaries and put better ones in, then you must register Dem for closed primaries.

Worth noting that all the information on your demographics and behaviors is already easily curated from what the state and corporations already have on us, unfortunately.

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[–] DylanMc6@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 2 days ago

The government (through ICE) is really stifling people's liberties. Get the government outta here. Seriously!

I think this pretty much answers the question "are humans evil?" Spoiler, yes.

[–] boaratio@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

They had to do a poll to figure this out?

[–] explodicle@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago

Yes! Half of the population is still fine with this!

[–] Boiglenoight@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Doesn’t matter so long as Republicans are in power.

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