It looks the media campaign by the anti-American Left is working, as the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is viewed favorably by less than half of Americans, and more than two-thirds of Democrats would vote for candidates who pledge to abolish ICE.
A recent Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey found that sixty-eight percent (68%) of Democrats would vote for a candidate who favored abolishing ICE, but 67% of Republicans would not. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, 45% would and 39% would not vote for a candidate who favored abolishing ICE, while 16% are not sure.
Only 45% of Likely U.S. Voters view ICE favorably, according to the survey, including 30% with a Very Favorable impression of the federal agency. However, 52% view ICE unfavorably, including 40% with a Very Unfavorable opinion.
Calls to abolish ICE have increased, with a number of Democrats in New York recently signing a letter to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer demanding they “defund and dismantle this rogue federal agency.” Forty-six percent (46%) of voters say they would vote for a congressional candidate who favored abolishing ICE, while 42% would not vote for such a candidate, and 11% are not sure.
Among all Likely Voters who have a Very Favorable opinion of ICE, 78% would not vote for a congressional candidate who favored abolishing the agency, but among those with a Very Unfavorable view of ICE, 79% would vote for a candidate who wants to abolish the agency.
Seventy-six percent (76%) of Republicans have at least a somewhat favorable impression of ICE, as do 26% of Democrats and 35% of unaffiliated voters, while ICE is viewed unfavorably by 73% of Democrats, 21% of Republicans and 61% of unaffiliated voters.
More men (50%) than women voters (41%) have a favorable opinion of ICE, but the same number of men and women voters (46%) say they’d vote for a congressional candidate who favored abolishing the agency.
ICE is viewed at least somewhat favorably by 44% of whites, 40% of black voters, 53% of Hispanics and 48% of other minorities. Forty-three percent (43%) of whites, 57% of black voters, 56% of Hispanics and 41% of other minorities would vote for a congressional candidate who favored abolishing ICE.
A majority of voters under 40 say they’d vote for a candidate who favored abolishing ICE, while a majority of those age 65 and older wouldn’t vote for such a candidate.
Breaking down the electorate by income categories, a majority of voters in the top bracket – earning more than $200,000 a year – have a Very Unfavorable opinion of ICE. Those with incomes between $30,000 and $50,000 are most likely to say they’d vote for a candidate who wants to abolish the agency.
Among those who voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, 72% would not vote for a congressional candidate who favored abolishing ICE, but 72% of Kamala Harris voters would vote for such a candidate.
The survey of 1,082 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on July 15-16 and 19, 2026 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology. To see survey question wording, click here.
