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Memo to Congressional Democrats: Abolishing ICE Is the Moderate Position
If a Democrat on Capitol Hill endorses anything less than the elimination of ICE, the media and advocacy groups need to point out that they are in the fringe of the party.
Jan 30, 2026
Often times, the followers in a political party are far ahead of where their leadership is. This is indeed the case regarding the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. While Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill talk about reforming ICE and making changes in how ICE operates, rank and file Democrats have concluded that ICE must be abolished.
In polling conducted by YouGov on January, just under two-thirds of Democrats (62%) strongly support abolishing ICE while 14% somewhat support abolishing ICE. The bottom line here is that more than three-quarters of Democratic voters (76%) support doing away with ICE.
The only accurate way to describe Democratic support for abolishing ICE is that it is the overwhelmingly mainstream Democratic position. If a Democrat on Capitol Hill endorses anything less than the elimination of ICE, the media and advocacy groups need to point out that they are in the fringe of the party.
A Democratic member of Congress may argue that in order to win they need not only Democratic votes, but Independents as well. There is good news here for ICE opponents. Independent voters, though certainly not as supportive of abolishing ICE as Democrats, do support abolishing ICE. According to the YouGov polling, just over 1 in 3 (35%) of Independent voters strongly support abolishing ICE, while 12% of Independents somewhat support abolishing ICE. The bottom line here is that a 47% plurality of Independent voters support abolishing ICE.
I would hope that Democrats on Capitol Hill would take substantial political comfort in deciding to vote to eliminate ICE.
Successful politics is always about adding people to your coalition. The polling data from YouGov clearly shows that it is easy to build a strong coalition with Democratic and Independent voters to support abolishing ICE. I would suggest that anyone who tells you otherwise is either disingenuous or can not do the simple arithmetic.
Democratic support for abolishing ICE is so great that almost any Democratic member of Congress who fails to support the abolition of ICE could easily face a primary challenge. The dividing lines are that clear.
I would hope that Democrats on Capitol Hill would take substantial political comfort in deciding to vote to eliminate ICE. Abolishing ICE is strongly supported by the majority of Democrats. To any Democrat thinking of compromising on the abolition of ICE, I would ask if you are not going to support something that has the support of 76% of your party, are you really a Democrat?
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Amid Fears of 'Imminent' Strike on Iran, Poll Shows US Public Opposes Trump Military Interventions
Just 8% of Americans want Trump to go further in using the military abroad. But they seem to be who he's listening to.
Jan 14, 2026
Just hours before a report on Wednesday that an attack on Iran by US President Donald Trump may be "imminent," a poll showed that a majority of Americans already believe the president has overstepped in using the US military to intervene in other countries.
Over the past two weeks, Trump has carried out an operation to overthrow Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in order to "run" the country and hand its oil reserves to American companies, has said he may use the military to conquer Greenland and annex it for the US, and has made repeated threats to strike Iran as it cracks down ruthlessly on anti-government protests.
The survey of American adults by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 56% believe Trump has "gone too far" in using the military to intervene in other countries, while just 35% felt his approach has "been about right."
In Venezuela specifically, 57% said they disapproved of Trump's handling of the situation, while 61% said they disapproved of his foreign policy in general.
Just 8% of those surveyed said they wanted to see Trump go further with military interventions. But they appear to be who Trump is listening to.
An anonymous US official told Reuters on Wednesday that the United States has begun to pull personnel from military bases in the Middle East as a precaution after the Islamic Republic said it would retaliate in the event of a US strike. Britain has reportedly begun to do the same with military bases in Qatar in anticipation of a US strike.
"All the signals are that a US attack is imminent, but that is also how this administration behaves to keep everyone on their toes," another Western military official told the outlet. "Unpredictability is part of the strategy."
Trump's threats to strike Iran come as the nation clamps down on the largest wave of unrest it has seen since the Islamic Revolution in 1979, following the collapse of the nation's currency and skyrocketing cost of living in part due to US sanctions.
According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, security forces had killed at least 2,586 demonstrators as of Wednesday, while more than 18,000 have been detained.
However, many Iranians taking part in the protests, as well as their supporters abroad, have warned that the US, which has long undermined democracy in the country, will seek to exploit their struggle against the theocratic regime.
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More and More Americans Want to Abolish ICE
Even before the Minneapolis shooting, polls showed public support for dropping Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Jan 11, 2026
In polling conducted on January 8, YouGov showed that American public opinion has turned sharply against Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This polling was conducted on the same day Renee Good was killed during an ICE operation in Minneapolis, so it does not fully incorporate the public outrage generated by this event.
Fully 52% disapprove of how ICE is doing its job (42% strongly disapprove), while 39% approve. Furthermore, 51% say that ICE’s tactics are “too forceful," while just over 1 in 4 (27%) say they are “about right.” A 44% plurality (30% strongly approve) approve of “recent protests against ICE.”
Support for ICE’s work is clustered strongly among Republicans (53% strongly approve, 27% somewhat approve). Democrats give ICE failing grades by an overwhelming margin (72% strongly disapprove, 13% somewhat disapprove). The most significant finding in the YouGov poll is that a 56% majority of Independents (44% strongly, 12% somewhat) disapprove of ICE.
To put this issue in perspective, in February of last year YouGov polling found that ICE had a plus 16-point approval rating.
As more people see video from the Good killing, public opinion will continue to shift.
Axios points out that support for abolishing ICE has dramatically increased.
- In September 2024, just 19% supported abolishing the agency, according to survey data from research firm Civiqs, while 66% opposed.
- This month, 42% support abolishing the agency and 49.5% oppose.
- Abolishing ICE has become a consensus view among Democrats, per the Civiqs data, with 69% of Democrats now supporting the idea.
As more people see video from the Good killing, public opinion will continue to shift. In response to the White House reaction, we may see more Republican support for ICE. An equally likely conclusion is that ICE will hemorrhage support from Independents.
Despite what President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance say, the polling data clearly shows that the majority of Americans are not on the side of ICE, but are with those putting their lives on the line to protest ICE’s aggressive actions.
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