The latest poll from The Economist and YouGov found 46 percent of people supported abolishing the ICE, compared to 43 percent who are in opposition of the movement; 12 percent were unsure.
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer led to a wave of backlash against the Trump administration with a poll published on Tuesday showing that more Americans support abolishing the agency.
The latest poll from The Economist and YouGov found 46 percent of people supported abolishing the ICE, compared to 43 percent who are in opposition of the movement; 12 percent were unsure. This result meant the public opinion was undergoing a major change.
Support for abolishing the ICE has been rising since U.S. President Donald Trump began his second term, the Forbes reported Tuesday, saying 25 percent were in favor of getting rid of the agency before Trump's inauguration compared to 42 percent after the death of Good, which has triggered nationwide protests and fueled renewed debate over its investigation authority and accountability.
Good, a 37-year-old Caucasian U.S. citizen, was seated in her vehicle when she was shot in the head by ICE officer Jonathan Ross last week in Minneapolis. However, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which runs the ICE, alleged that the victim was attempting to run over law enforcement officers.
As local officials have disputed the DHS's claim, this case triggered a sharp debate about whether the officer should face criminal charges and how the agency could be held accountable for its officers' actions.
The ICE is a federal agency under the DHS. In the United States, questions over who investigates and who prosecutes can become contested when a federal officer is involved and state authorities seek to pursue their own inquiry.
Media outlets in Minnesota and Washington, including the Minnesota Star Tribune and the Washington Post, reported that a state investigative agency claimed that federal agencies had denied it access to the information required to determine whether the agent should face state charges.
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said the state does not have jurisdiction. Mary Moriarty, Hennepin County attorney in Minnesota, said her office was reviewing what options, if any, remained for a state-level role in the case.
The Minnesota Star Tribune reported Tuesday that at least six attorneys had left the U.S. Attorney's Office in Minnesota, including members of its leadership team, and linked the departures to directives from top federal officials after the Good shooting and broader frustration within the office.
Minnesota resignations occurred the same time that several supervisors in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Civil Rights Division gave notice after learning there would not be a civil rights investigation into Good's killing.
Amy Klobuchar, the U.S. Senator from Minnesota, warned against prosecutions being driven by politics and said Good's family deserved justice.
The poll published Jan. 13 from The Economist and YouGov, conducted Jan. 9 to 11, found that 53 percent of respondents said the ICE officer should face criminal charges, while 30 percent said he should not and 17 percent said they were not sure.
Overall, the public is skeptical of the force used: 53 percent of respondents felt the officer went too far, compared to 28 percent who felt the actions were justified.
The chaos of the judicial system in investigating the case has fueled Americans' suspicion of and disgust with the ICE, even among Trump's supporters. Joe Rogan, one of the most popular podcasters in the country who endorsed Trump in the 2024 presidential election, compared the ICE to "the Gestapo" in his latest show posted Tuesday.
Rogan said that "most people" believed law enforcement should arrest criminals, but that many of the same people also believe the ICE is "operating illegally."
"Are we really going to be the Gestapo? Where's (are) your papers? Is that what we've come to?" Rogan asked. ■
