ICE Approval Rating After Renee Nicole Good Shooting Revealed 

Americans’ approval rating of how Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is handling its job has been revealed in a snap poll taken in the wake of Renee Nicole Good’s fatal shooting. 

Newsweek contacted ICE’s ‘umbrella’ organization, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), for comment via email. 

Why It Matters

A recent fatal shooting by an ICE agent in Minneapolis has reignited national debate over U.S. immigration enforcement practices and eroded public confidence in the agency, according to polling data. 

What To Know

A new YouGov survey indicates that a majority of Americans now disapprove of ICE’s conduct, with many viewing the agency’s tactics as too forceful and supporting protests against it. 

The survey of 2,686 U.S. adults conducted on the same day of the shooting shows widespread dissatisfaction with ICE. 

About 52 percent of those polled said they disapproved of how ICE was handling its job, compared to 39 percent who approved, and just 27 percent said the agency’s tactics were “about right.”

Some 40 percent “strongly disapproved” and 12 percent “somewhat disapproved”, giving a net disapproval rating of 52 percent, while 24 percent “strongly approved” and 15 percent “somewhat approved”, giving a net approval rating of 39 percent, when asked: “Do you approve or disapprove of how ICE is handling its job?”

One in ten (10 percent) of respondents said they were “not sure” when asked the same question. 

The data also demonstrated a strong divide along party lines.

Republicans were much more likely to support ICE, with 53 percent strongly approving and 27 somewhat approving, giving a net approval rating among this voter group of 80 percent. 

Only 4 percent of Republicans strongly disapproved of ICE, and 10 percent somewhat disapproved, giving a net disapproval rating of 14 percent, with 7 percent saying they were not sure. 

Meanwhile, Democrats were staunchly against the agency, with only 4 percent strongly approving and 5 percent somewhat approving, giving a net approval rating of 9 percent. 

A huge 72 percent of Democrats said they strongly disapproved, and 13 percent somewhat disapproved, producing a net disapproval rating of 85 percent, meaning blue voters are even more strongly anti-ICE than red voters are for it. Some 6 percent of Democrats said they were not sure. 

The picture among independents, a key voter group as the November midterms approach, is more mixed. 

About 15 percent said they strongly approved of ICE, and 12 percent somewhat approved, giving a combined approval rating of 27 percent. On the other side, 44 percent strongly disapproved and 12 percent somewhat disapproved, producing a net disapproval rating of 56 percent. 

Another 16 percent of independents said they were not sure, underscoring the uncertainty within this group.

Most respondents, 51 percent, called ICE’s approach “too forceful,” while 10 percent said it was “not forceful enough.”

And some 44 percent of adults approved of recent ICE protests, while 42 percent disapproved.

Support for abolishing ICE has surged, rising from 19 percent in the second half of 2024 to 42 percent this month, according to Civiqs data, with nearly seven in ten Democrats (69 percent) now backing the idea. 

The YouGov poll also found that 58 percent of Americans believed there was a “war or conflict” happening in U.S. cities, a perception strongest among older adults

YouGov’s polling came on the same day ICE agent Jonathan Ross fatally shot Good, a 37-year-old mother, activist, and poet, inside her vehicle during a raid in south Minneapolis. Good’s death has catalyzed protests and intensified scrutiny on both ICE operations and federal immigration policy under President Donald Trump.

An eyewitness told MPR News that Good posed “no threat” to officers. ICE officials, however, said the shooting was justified because Ross was acting in self-defense.  

The incident has drawn comparisons to the murder of George Floyd in the same neighborhood five years earlier, further fueling community grievances.

Federal officials, including the DHS, have declined to share evidence with Minnesota authorities, signaling that the investigation is being handled internally by the FBI. 

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem also stated that Minnesota “doesn’t have jurisdiction in this investigation,” reinforcing that the case is being managed internally by federal agencies, primarily the FBI. 

Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) Superintendent Drew Evans said in a statement: “The investigation would now be led solely by the FBI, and the BCA would no longer have access to the case materials, scene evidence or investigative interviews necessary to complete a thorough and independent investigation.”

Governor Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey have criticized the federal response and called for an independent inquiry. 

What People Are Saying

Democratic Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar posted on X: “We will never accept that a single federal agent can be judge, jury, and executioner in our streets. ICE needs to get out of Minneapolis.”

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said: “We’ve been warning for weeks that the Trump administration’s dangerous, sensationalized operations are a threat to our public safety, that someone was going to get hurt. What we’re seeing is the consequences of governance designed to generate fear, headlines and conflict.”

Vice-President JD Vance wrote in a post on X: “The gaslighting is off the charts and I’m having none of it. This guy was doing his job. She tried to stop him from doing his job.”

Trump wrote on Truth Social: “I have just watched the clip of the event which took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is a horrible thing to watch. The woman screaming was, obviously, a professional agitator, and the woman driving the car was very disorderly, obstructive and resisting, who then violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer, who seems to have shot her in self-defense.”

He added: “The reason these incidents are happening is because the Radical Left is threatening, assaulting, and targeting our Law Enforcement Officers and ICE Agents on a daily basis.”

What Happens Next

The FBI is currently leading the investigation into Good’s death, a move questioned by state officials due to concerns over impartiality and transparency.