A series of new national polls suggest a sharp shift in public attitudes toward federal immigration enforcement, driven in large part by recent events in Minnesota and the Trump administration’s handling of them. In the wake of violent immigration raids in Minneapolis and St. Paul, the killing of two local residents, and escalating confrontations between agents and demonstrators, majorities of Americans now say they want fewer immigration agents deployed in affected cities and oppose similar operations being carried out in their own states.
The findings come from an Economist/YouGov poll published Tuesday and a separate Data for Progress survey conducted from Jan. 30 to Feb. 2, roughly one week after immigration agents shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Together, the polls paint a picture of eroding public trust in Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security, alongside growing support for accountability measures targeting DHS leadership.
According to the Economist/YouGov poll, only 21 percent of Americans believe more immigration agents should be sent to Minneapolis, while 13 percent say the current number of agents should remain the same. In contrast, 15 percent say the number of agents should be reduced, and 37 percent say all immigration agents should be removed from the city entirely. Combined, 52 percent of respondents favor either reducing or fully withdrawing federal immigration agents from Minneapolis.
The polling follows a period of intensified immigration enforcement in Minnesota that has drawn national attention and condemnation. As described in the reporting accompanying the poll, agents have abducted and detained people, including children with pending asylum cases, used violent force against demonstrators, and shot and killed Minneapolis residents Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti. These events have fueled sustained protests in both Minneapolis and St. Paul and appear to have reshaped public opinion well beyond the state’s borders.
The same poll found that Americans largely view demonstrators more favorably than immigration agents involved in the operations. Fifty percent of respondents said they believe all or most demonstrations in the Twin Cities have been peaceful. By contrast, only 35 percent said Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have been mostly peaceful, while 47 percent said ICE has engaged in mostly violent actions.
Public concern also extends to the broader question of whether such operations should be replicated elsewhere. When asked whether they want federal immigration agents sent to their own states in operations similar to those conducted in Minnesota, 54 percent of Americans said they did not want that to happen. Only 32 percent said they would support such deployments, while 14 percent said they were unsure.
These views appear closely tied to perceptions of safety and legitimacy. Overall, just 33 percent of respondents said ICE makes the United States more safe, while 50 percent said the agency makes the country less safe. The findings reinforce evidence from other polling that ICE’s standing with the public has deteriorated significantly over the past year.
The killing of Alex Pretti has become a central focus of both public outrage and skepticism toward official narratives. Pretti, an ICU nurse, was killed by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis on Jan. 24. In the days following the shooting, White House officials claimed he was a “domestic terrorist,” a characterization that polling suggests most Americans now reject.
According to the Economist/YouGov survey, only 13 percent of Americans believe the Trump administration was “totally honest” about how Pretti was killed, while 16 percent said officials were “mostly honest.” Meanwhile, 12 percent said the administration was “mostly dishonest,” and 40 percent said it was “totally dishonest.” Combined, 52 percent of respondents said the administration inaccurately described the circumstances surrounding Pretti’s death.
Despite later backtracking on his initial insinuation that Pretti was responsible for his own killing, President Donald Trump has continued to publicly attack the Minneapolis resident. After the release of new video showing Pretti kicking a tail light out of an immigration agent’s vehicle days before his death, Trump wrote in a Truth Social post that Pretti’s “stock has gone way down,” describing him as an “agitator and, perhaps, insurrectionist.”
Critics have emphasized that, regardless of any actions Pretti may have taken days or even moments before his death, the killing itself was unjustified. According to the account summarized in the reporting, agents had held Pretti down, removed a weapon he was legally carrying, and then shot him several times.
Steve Schleicher, an attorney representing Pretti’s parents, issued a statement responding directly to the administration’s renewed attempts to smear their son. “A week before Alex was gunned down in the street—despite posing no threat to anyone—he was violently assaulted by a group of ICE agents,” Schleicher said. “Nothing that happened a full week before could possibly have justified Alex’s killing at the hands of ICE on January 24.”
The backlash over the Minnesota raids and killings has also translated into rising calls for accountability at the highest levels of the Department of Homeland Security. A Data for Progress poll found that 52 percent of likely voters believe Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem should be impeached for her handling of the DHS killings of Pretti and Renee Nicole Good. Only 36 percent said they disagreed, giving supporters of impeachment a 16-point margin.
Support for impeachment spans party lines, though it is strongest among Democrats. Eighty percent of Democrats said Noem should be impeached, compared to 8 percent who disagreed. The poll also found that 54 percent of independents support impeachment, along with 21 percent of Republicans.
The survey was conducted as pressure mounted on Noem from congressional Democrats. In the wake of Pretti’s killing, dozens of Democrats signed on to impeachment articles introduced in the House. The articles now have 182 cosponsors, representing 85 percent of the Democratic caucus. The charges accuse Noem of obstructing Congress, violating public trust, and self dealing.
The impeachment push comes amid broader allegations that DHS leadership is flouting constitutional protections. Former DHS general counsels wrote in a recent op-ed that the department appears to be trying to “wish away” the Fourth Amendment in a memo directing agents to enter homes without a warrant. Separately, a federal judge ruled last month that Noem and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are “not honoring the First Amendment” in efforts to detain and deport pro-Palestine students such as Mahmoud Khalil.
On Tuesday, Democrats held a rally calling for Noem to be impeached or fired, highlighting what they described as a pattern of abuses by DHS in recent months. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has said the caucus is working to build support for the impeachment articles in hopes of securing a successful vote.
Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, speaking at the press conference, framed the issue as one of urgency and accountability. “When we say it is time for Kristi Noem to go, we mean it now,” Omar said. “If Kristi Noem does not resign and the president doesn’t fire her, Democrats are ready and willing to impeach her.”
The Data for Progress poll also found a slim majority of voters, 51 percent, believe Trump’s top immigration adviser Stephen Miller should be removed from his position following the killings. That figure includes 77 percent of Democrats and 23 percent of Republicans.
Meanwhile, ICE’s overall favorability has dropped sharply. While roughly half of Americans approved of ICE as of January 2025, only 39 percent now view the agency favorably. Over the same period, unfavorable views have climbed from 36 percent to 58 percent, according to the polling.
Taken together, the surveys suggest that the Minnesota raids and killings have become a national inflection point for public opinion on immigration enforcement. As Americans increasingly reject both the tactics used on the ground and the official narratives offered afterward, pressure continues to build for structural change and political accountability at the top of the agencies involved.
“Nothing that happened a full week before could possibly have justified Alex’s killing at the hands of ICE on January 24.”
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