Americans place high importance on immigration officer training and conduct
Washington DC, February 2, 2026 – Amid ongoing debates over U.S. immigration policy and enforcement, a new Ipsos poll finds that 80% of Americans place a high importance on training and conduct standards for federal immigration officers. The survey underscores Americans’ multiple priorities on immigration, with majorities placing high importance on secure borders and enforcement of current immigration laws, as well as a path to legal status for undocumented immigrants currently in the country.
The survey, conducted Jan. 30-Feb. 1, finds that 62% of Americans say current efforts by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deal with unauthorized immigration go “too far,” up slightly from 58% a week ago. The findings come as far more Americans describe the recent shooting of Alex Pretti by U.S. immigration officers in Minneapolis as an excessive rather than necessary use of force.
Detailed Findings
1. The recent shooting of Pretti registers widely with the public; majority feel the shooting was an excessive use of force.
- Americans are more likely to say the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by U.S. immigration officers was an excessive (55%) rather than necessary (16%) use of force, while 28% are unsure.
- Democrats overwhelmingly view the shooting as an excessive use of force (88%), while independents are more likely to describe it as excessive than necessary (54% to 14%). Republicans are more evenly divided: 33% say the shooting of Pretti by U.S. immigration officers was a necessary use of force, while 24% say it was excessive, and a plurality (43%) say they are not sure.
- The shooting registered widely with the public: a large majority of Americans (89%) say they have heard a lot or a little about it.
- Among those who have heard a lot or a little about the shooting, 67% say they have seen video footage of the incident.
2. While most Americans support deporting undocumented immigrants, many are uncomfortable with current tactics.
- A majority of Americans say current efforts by ICE officers to deal with unauthorized immigration go too far (62%), compared to 13% who say current efforts do not go far enough and 23% who say current efforts are about right. The share saying these efforts go “too far” has increased slightly compared to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted Jan. 23-25, 2026 (58%).
- Most Democrats (92%) and independents (65%) say current ICE efforts go too far, while Republicans are more split (30% too far, 22% not far enough, 45% about right). The share of Republicans saying ICE efforts go too far is up 10 points from a week ago.
- To better understand Americans’ views on immigration enforcement, respondents were asked to choose between three different statements in order to parse support for deporting undocumented immigrants from support for current enforcement tactics:
- 26% of Americans say they support deporting undocumented immigrants and are comfortable with current federal enforcement tactics.
- 45% say they support deporting undocumented immigrants but are uncomfortable with current tactics.
- 26% say they do not support deporting undocumented immigrants.
3. Widespread agreement on importance of training standards for immigration officers.
- A majority of Americans find a broad range of immigration policies to be extremely or very important, including: training and conduct standards for federal officers who enforce immigration laws (80%), secure borders to prevent people from entering the U.S. illegally (61%), enforcement of existing immigration laws within the country (57%), and a way for undocumented immigrants in the country to gain legal status if they have jobs and no criminal record (60%).
- Large majorities of Republicans (81%), Democrats (82%), and independents (84%) place importance on training and conduct standards for federal officers who enforce immigration laws.
- Republicans are more likely than Democrats to place high importance on border security and immigration law enforcement, while Democrats place greater emphasis on the importance of a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who have a job and no criminal record. Even so, majorities in both parties say all four immigration policy measures tested in the survey are at least somewhat important, underscoring a degree of common ground on the issue.
About the Study
This Ipsos poll was conducted January 30 to February 1, 2026, by Ipsos using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,020 general population adults aged 18 or older.
The study was conducted in English. The data were weighted to adjust for gender by age, race and ethnicity, census region, metropolitan status, education, household income, 2024 vote choice and political party identification. Political party identification benchmarks are from the 2025 NPORS annual survey, with a midyear adjustment estimated across aggregated KnowledgePanel surveys. The demographic benchmarks came from the 2025 March supplement of the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS).
- Gender (Male, Female) by Age (18–29, 30–44, 45-59 and 60+)
- Race/Hispanic Ethnicity (White Non-Hispanic, Black Non-Hispanic, Other, Non-Hispanic, Hispanic, 2+ Races, Non-Hispanic)
- Education (Less than High School, High School, Some College, Bachelor’s degree, Master’s degree or higher)
- Census Region (Northeast, Midwest, South, West)
- Metropolitan status (Metro, non-Metro)
- Household Income (Under $25,000, $25,000-$49,999, $50,000-$74,999, $75,000-$99,999, $100,000-$149,999, $150,000+)
- 2024 Vote Choice (Trump, Harris, Another candidate, Did not vote)
- Political Party ID (Democrat, Lean Democrat, Republican, Lean Republican, Independent/Something else)
The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3.7 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults. The margin of sampling error takes into account the design effect, which was 1.43. The margin of sampling error is higher and varies for results based on sub-samples. In our reporting of the findings, percentage points are rounded off to the nearest whole number. As a result, percentages in a given table column may total slightly higher or lower than 100%. In questions that permit multiple responses, columns may total substantially more than 100%, depending on the number of different responses offered by each respondent.
For more information on this news release, please contact:
Alec Tyson
Senior Vice President, US
Public Affairs
[email protected]
About Ipsos
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