What percentage of Americans are in favor of abolishing ICE
Executive summary
Recent national polling places U.S. support for abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) roughly in the mid‑40s percentage range: most prominent polls conducted in January 2026 show between about 42% and 46% of Americans saying they favor abolishing the agency, with variation by pollster, question wording and timing around high‑profile shootings of civilians by federal agents [1] [2] [3].
1. What the headline numbers say: mid‑40s support, but not unanimous
The Economist/YouGov surveys in January 2026 reported that 46% of respondents supported abolishing ICE while 43% opposed doing so in one wave, and other YouGov measures that month put support at about 42% versus roughly 45% opposed in an earlier frame, signaling a jump from single‑digit Republican support in mid‑2024 to near‑majority public ambivalence now [2] [1] [4]. Independent trackers produce similar but not identical results: Civiqs’ aggregated national results through January 28, 2026 show support at 44% and opposition at 48% with about 7% unsure, underscoring that most measures cluster in the low‑to‑mid‑40s for support [3].
2. Why polls disagree: timing, wording and context matter
Differences between 42%, 44% and 46% reflect more than measurement noise — they track when questions were asked relative to the Minneapolis shootings that put ICE tactics front and center, how pollsters framed “abolish ICE” (some asked about replacing its functions, some did not), and sampling approaches such as YouGov’s opt‑in online panel versus larger rolling Civiqs datasets [1] [5] [3]. Data for Progress finds many voters are unclear whether “Abolish ICE” means totally eliminating enforcement functions or simply reallocating them, which will sway responses depending on the exact wording used by each survey [5].
3. The partisan and demographic split behind the aggregate
Support is highly polarized: Democrats are the most likely to support abolition (by large margins in these polls), independents have moved toward support for abolition or significant change, and Republicans largely remain opposed — YouGov reported only about 19% Republican support even as GOP backing rose compared with mid‑2024 figures [6] [7] [8]. Civiqs and YouGov both record a marked shift since 2018–2024 baselines, when opposition to abolition was a clear majority and single‑digit percentages of Republicans favored shutting ICE down [3] [9].
4. Why the spike now — and what that implies about permanence
Journalistic accounts and analysts tie the jump in support to high‑profile incidents — notably the killings in Minneapolis — and to renewed attention on ICE funding and tactics, which dramatically altered public perception in January 2026 [10] [7] [4]. That timing suggests the current mid‑40s support may reflect a reactive posture to recent events rather than settled long‑term consensus; pollsters and commentators caution that opinions can shift as new information, framing and political debates unfold [10] [11].
5. What can’t be said from available polling
The public record in the supplied reporting does not resolve how durable those mid‑40s numbers will be across 2026, nor does it standardize what respondents think “abolish” entails in operational terms — whether full elimination, reassignment of functions to other agencies, or replacement with a reformed entity — creating meaningful ambiguity in interpreting the headline percentages [5]. Moreover, methodological details (weighting, exact question text for every poll) are not fully enumerated in the summaries provided here, limiting precision in comparing points.
6. Bottom line
Combining the major national surveys cited yields a defensible, evidence‑based answer: roughly 42–46% of Americans, depending on the poll and timing, say they favor abolishing ICE, with most reputable trackers clustering in the mid‑40s and partisan differences driving much of the variation [1] [3] [2].