President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda, long one of his strongest political assets, is showing signs of strain as violent confrontations in Minnesota dominate national coverage and new polling points to declining public support.
Axios reports that Trump advisers recently reviewed private Republican polling showing erosion among independents, moderates, and minority voters — groups central to Trump’s 2024 victory. The internal findings, completed in late December, aligned with public surveys and sparked quiet concern inside the White House about the optics of aggressive ICE enforcement tactics.
The polling showed that 60% of independent voters and 58% of undecided voters believe Trump is “too focused” on deportations, while 33% said they think ICE is primarily deporting law-abiding people rather than criminals, Axios says. The survey was conducted days before an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, an incident that has since intensified scrutiny of enforcement operations.
New polling finds Americans are turning on ICE in the wake of Jonathan Ross killing Renee Good in Minneapolis
A plurality of Americans now support abolishing ICE
Read it for free here: https://t.co/JN8jjhBs8k pic.twitter.com/InV40qWt06
— Polling USA (@USA_Polling) January 13, 2026
One senior Trump adviser described the president’s discomfort in visual terms rather than policy terms. “He wants deportations. He wants mass deportations,” the adviser said. “What he doesn’t want is what people are seeing. He doesn’t like the way it looks. It looks bad.”
Public polling has echoed those concerns. According to CNN and YouGov surveys released this week, majorities of Americans say ICE’s actions are making U.S. cities less safe. An Associated Press poll conducted after Good’s death found just 38% of Americans approve of Trump’s immigration policies.
The situation in Minnesota has become a focal point. PBS NewsHour reports that Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison described ICE raids in Minneapolis as “destructive” and said they have “eroded Americans’ confidence in their government.” Speaking to PBS, Ellison said, “The searching they have done so far has been destructive, not helpful to anybody. It has risked public safety. It has depleted public resources. It has increased fear.”
CNN POLL
January 9-12
Trust Federal Govt To
Carry Out Investigation
Of MN Shooting?
Yes 37%
No 62%
Effect ICE Enforcement Having
On US Cities?
Making cities less safe 51%
Making cities safer 31%
Not much effect 18%https://t.co/dJZm9Z7mBd
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 14, 2026
Ellison also raised concerns about transparency surrounding the federal investigation into Good’s killing. “All we have been asking for is a fair, free, open investigation,” he told PBS. “I will take the word of a trained medical professional… but I’m not going to just take the word of some nameless, faceless bureaucrat.”
At the same time, enforcement activity continues to expand rapidly. The American Immigration Council said in a report released January 14 that ICE detention has reached the highest level in U.S. history, with the detained population rising nearly 75% in 2025. “This has absolutely nothing to do with law and order,” senior fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick said. “The goal is not public safety, but to pressure people into giving up their rights and accepting deportation,” the Council said.
Axios notes that some prominent Trump supporters have also publicly reacted to the imagery coming out of Minnesota. Podcaster Joe Rogan said on his show, “Militarized groups of people roaming the streets, just showing up with masks on, snatching people up — are we really going to be the Gestapo?” But it seems that it will remain a rhetorical question.
A set of recently released polls found Americans largely at odds with the Trump administration and its defense of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Minneapolis woman Renee Good.https://t.co/guu6O6mwHn
— ABC News (@ABC) January 16, 2026
The administration’s public posture has not shifted. Trump threatened on Truth Social this week to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minnesota, a move that could authorize the deployment of military forces. In fact, Trump wrote he would act if state officials failed to “stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the president’s immigration stance remains a political strength. “President Trump continues to be viewed as a strong leader who keeps the American people safe,” she said. “A big reason for that is his law and order agenda and handling of immigration and border security.”
For now, the policy remains escalation, with more federal agents sent into Minneapolis even as lawsuits, investigations, and polling trends continue to unfold.
