Most Americans’ opinions about deportations have changed little since November 2025, before the recent wave of anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) protests swept the nation, according to a poll released Wednesday.
The newly released Marquette Law School survey shows that 56% of respondents favored deporting “immigrants who are living in the United States illegally,” with 44% opposed. By comparison, 58% backed such deportations in November and 42% were opposed, according to Marquette Law School.
The poll was conducted weeks after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Jan. 7. Most of the survey’s interviews had concluded before the fatal shooting of Minneapolis resident Alex Pretti by border patrol agents on Jan. 24.
Among those who said they approve of deportations, 35% said they disapprove of the way ICE is enforcing immigration, compared to 65% who approve of ICE’s conduct, the poll shows. Those who oppose deportations are almost unanimously opposed to ICE, with 96% disapproving and 4% approving, according to the survey.
Additionally, 37% percent of respondents said the shooting of Good was justified, while 62% say it was not justified, according to the poll.
“President [Donald] Trump and [Department of Homeland Security (DHS)] Secretary [Kristi] Noem are delivering on the American people’s mandate to deport illegal aliens, and the latest polls show that support for the America First agenda has not wavered–including a New York Times poll and a Harvard Caps Harris poll 8 in 10 Americans support deporting illegal aliens with criminal records,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the Daily Caller News Foundation in statement Wednesday.
“[Seventy percent] of illegal aliens arrested by ICE have been charged with or convicted of a crime in the U.S. The American people, the law, and common sense are on our side, and we will not stop until law and order is restored after [former President Joe] Biden’s open border chaos flooded our country with the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens,” McLaughlin added in her statement.
When respondents were asked about deportations of those who “have lived here for a number of years, have jobs and no criminal record,” support for deportations dropped to 44%, with 56% opposed, which remains unchanged from November 2025, according to the poll.
Among respondents who favor deporting longtime U.S. residents without a criminal record, 78% said they approve of ICE’s conduct, compared to 22% who disapproved, the poll shows. The survey also found that among those opposed to deporting longtime residents without a criminal record, 89% disapprove of ICE, while 11% viewed ICE favorably.
There have been several reports in recent weeks of violent anti-ICE protests in Minnesota amid federal immigration agents’ ongoing enforcement surge in the North Star State. A series of student walkouts also took place across the nation on Jan. 30 as part of a “National Shutdown” to protest ICE’s ongoing enforcement operations, USA Today reported Tuesday.
The DHS said in a Jan. 8 news release that there has recently been an “unprecedented” 1,300% rise in assaults against ICE agents in the U.S. and a 3,200% increase in vehicular attacks against them.
On Friday, the Department of Justice (DOJ) confirmed it had launched a civil rights probe into Pretti’s death. Moreover, the two Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers involved in the shooting of Pretti were placed on administrative leave in late January.
Border czar Tom Homan announced Wednesday that the Trump administration will withdraw 700 law enforcement officers from Minnesota, CNBC reported.
The Marquette Law School poll was conducted from Jan. 21-28, and surveyed 1,003 adults nationwide, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points. For registered U.S. voters, the sample size was 869, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points, and for likely voters, the sample size was 577 and the margin of error was plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
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