Majority of Americans say federal immigration enforcement efforts go too far
Washington DC, January 27, 2026 – A majority of Americans say efforts to deal with unauthorized immigration in the country by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement go too far (58%), according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted amid ongoing events in Minneapolis, including the second fatal shooting involving federal agents in recent weeks. Relatively few Americans (12%) say ICE enforcement efforts do not go far enough, while 26% describe the efforts as about right.
The poll was conducted Jan. 23-25, 2026, among 1,139 U.S adults. It includes respondents who took the survey before (N=829) and after (N=310) news of the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
Views of immigration enforcement remain sharply divided along partisan lines: 92% of Democrats and 63% of independents say ICE efforts have gone too far, while 55% of Republicans say they are about right. Views among all U.S. adults and partisan groups are similar to those measured in an Ipsos poll conducted Jan. 16-18, 2026, following the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis.
Americans are paying close attention to federal efforts to deal with unauthorized immigration in the country, with 71% saying they are following these efforts very or somewhat closely.
With a spotlight on immigration, President Donald Trump’s standing on the issue has declined. The survey finds more Americans disapprove (53%) than approve (39%) of President Trump’s handling of the issue. This represents a more negative balance of opinion compared to other points in Trump’s second term. For instance, in May 2025, 47% approved of how Trump was handling immigration, compared to 45% who disapproved.
Americans continue to prefer the approach of the Republican Party (37%) over the Democratic Party (32%) on immigration (R+5), but this margin is the narrowest it has been in Ipsos surveys over the last year. In December, Americans preferred the Republican Party on immigration by 40% to 30% (R+10).
More broadly, the poll finds 51% of Americans feel immigration policy is off on the wrong track, compared with 35% who say it is headed in the right direction. This is the highest share of Americans saying immigration policy is on the wrong track in the second Trump administration and is up three percentage points compared to December (48%).
About the Study
This Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted January 23-25, 2026, by Ipsos using the probability-based KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,139 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 3.0 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 1.06. 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]
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