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An increasing number of voters disapprove of the job the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, or ICE, is doing, with nearly half wanting Congress to reduce its funding.
That’s according to a new Fox News poll conducted before President Trump announced on Thursday that he will nominate Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., to replace Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem.
The survey finds nearly 6 in 10 voters disapprove of ICE’s performance, while about 4 in 10 approve. This is the highest disapproval rating recorded, up 7 points since last fall and 17 points since the question was first asked in 2018.
Nearly twice as many voters strongly disapprove as strongly approve.
The increase in disapproval can mostly be attributed to voters under age 30 (+17 points more disapproving than in September), independents (+13), men (+11) and Democrats (+8).
“This isn’t a complicated story,” says Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who helps run the Fox News Poll with Democratic counterpart Chris Anderson. “ICE’s tactics in Minneapolis, along with negative news coverage, have caused a sharp drop in approval, especially among independents and members of the out-party.”
Meanwhile, large majorities of MAGA supporters (94% approve), very conservative voters (87% approve) and Republicans (83%) back ICE.
When asked about funding the agency, nearly half (46%) said reduce it. The other half wants to increase funding (20%), keep at current levels (18%) or fund at current levels but with new restrictions (16%).
FOX NEWS POLL: VIEWS ARE DIVIDED ON US ACTION AGAINST IRAN
Majorities of Democrats (77%) and independents (59%) want to defund ICE while Republicans would prefer to at least keep it at its current level (37%) if not increase it (43%).
Today, voters are slightly more likely to feel the Trump administration’s immigration policies have made the U.S. safer (42% safer vs. 37% less safe) than they did last June, when they were split on the matter (39% each). Overall, 2 in 10 say the policies don’t make a difference to safety.
But when looking at immigration from an economic lens, more voters think the administration’s policies are hurting the economy (49%) than helping it (33%). Two in 10 (17%) say they haven’t had an effect on the economy.
Majorities of Republicans are more likely to say the immigration policies have made the U.S. safer (82%) and helped the economy (66%), while it’s the opposite for Democrats (62% less safe, 83% hurt). A majority of independents think the economy is being hurt (57%) but are more divided on safety: 27% safer, 40% less safe, 33% no difference.
Views on what to do about illegal immigration remain nuanced. Two-thirds favor allowing illegal immigrants who have jobs in the U.S. to stay and apply for legal status (67% favor, 33% oppose). On the other hand, 6 in 10 favor deporting immigrants who are here illegally back to their home countries (59% favor, 40% oppose).
Among voters favoring deportation, 53% would support immigrants who live here illegally but have jobs to stay and apply for legal status.
Majorities of Hispanic voters favor allowing illegal immigrants with jobs to stay (74% favor), disagree with deportations (56% oppose) and disapprove of ICE (58%).
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Big picture, border security and immigration remain President Trump’s best issues. Border security continues to be his only net positive job rating with 52% approving and 48% disapproving. While his handling of immigration stands at 47% approve and 53% disapprove, it is a slight improvement since the last recording in January when it was 45-55%.
The president’s ratings on other issues remain underwater: jobs (43% approve, 56% disapprove), taxes (40-59%), foreign policy (40-60%), economy (38-61%), healthcare (38-61%), tariffs (36-63%), and cost of living (32-67%).
Conducted Feb. 28 to March 2, 2026, under the direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News survey includes interviews with a sample of 1,004 registered voters randomly selected from a national voter file. Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (104) and cellphones (642) or completed the survey online after receiving a text (258). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ±3 percentage points. Sampling error for results among subgroups is higher. In addition to sampling error, question wording and order can influence results. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education and area variables to ensure the demographics are representative of the registered voter population. Sources for developing weight targets include the most recent American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis and voter file data.
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