New Poll Shatters Narrative: Voters Overwhelmingly Back Deportations and ICE
“Americans support deporting those in the country illegally by a [nearly] 2-to-1 margin, 61% to 34%.”
The legacy media would have us believe that the vast majority of Americans, including many 2024 Trump voters, are having second thoughts about deporting illegal aliens and would even support abolishing ICE.
Cygnal released a new national survey on Monday that suggests the opposite is true. The polling firm, highly respected for its accuracy by statistician Nate Silver and The New York Times, found that Americans support deporting those in the country illegally by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, 61% to 34%.
The poll also shows:
- 73% say entering the U.S. without legal permission is breaking the law.
- 54% want ICE enforcing federal immigration laws and removing illegal immigrants.
- 58% oppose defunding ICE—including majorities of Independents and swing voters.
NEW POLL:
🗳️ 73% say coming here illegally is breaking the law.
🗳️ 61% support deporting illegals.
🗳️ 58% oppose defunding ICE.
🗳️ 54% support ICE enforcing our immigration laws. pic.twitter.com/E7r1JTUHmw
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 2, 2026
Cygnal CEO and Founder Brent Buchanan said, “Voters see illegal immigration as a simple question of law and order. The data leaves no wiggle room. Americans want the law enforced, they want illegal immigrants removed, and they punish politicians who try to block ICE from doing its job.”
The survey found that calls to defund ice are “politically toxic. When voters are told Democrats want to defund ICE or even shut down the government to stop ICE from enforcing immigration law, the political fallout is immediate and severe.”
- The generic ballot flips from D+4 to R+0 if Democrats oppose ICE.
- If Democrats force a shutdown to defund ICE, Republicans take a 2‑point lead; that’s a 6-point shift away from Democrats over a single issue.
- Swing voters shift a staggering 16 points toward Republicans under a shutdown scenario.
The results indicate that Democrats do not view illegal immigration as a “serious national problem.”
But nearly all Republicans (97%) and 60% of Independent voters see it as a major problem. Overall, 64% of midterm voters and 71% of swing voters agree.
According to Cygnal, the GOP “holds the high ground” and if they continue to emphasize the clear distinction between Republicans and Democrats on this issue, they will gain votes.
Cygnal concluded:
- Voters reward candidates who support deportation and ICE enforcement.
- Democrats’ attempts to weaken or defund enforcement agencies push voters decisively toward the GOP.
- The electoral math is clear: immigration is a winning issue for Republicans, and a losing issue for Democrats.
[Note: The poll surveyed 1,004 likely 2026 midterm voters January 27–28, 2026, by phone and “text-to-web” and has a margin of error of ±3.09%.]
Democrats and the legacy media have leaned hard on the narrative that the January shooting deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minneapolis have dampened voters’ enthusiasm for deportations and even ICE itself. At the risk of reading too much into a single poll, these results suggest that, as is often the case with leftist narratives, reality tells a different story.
It appears that most Americans understand that the U.S. is a nation governed by laws, and that elected city and state leaders do not have the authority to exempt their jurisdictions from federal law. The Biden administration’s reckless refusal to enforce federal immigration laws allowed at least 10 million illegal aliens to enter the country. This has undermined public safety and strained public resources.
Legacy media outlets have claimed that Americans, confronted with what they frame as the cruelty of deportations and the so-called “murders” of Good and Pretti, are increasingly turning away from policies they once supported.
But Americans aren’t stupid. The public has watched the media’s attempts to gin up nationwide outrage get debunked by reality within 24 hours. Recall the stunning video that surfaced last week of Pretti spitting at federal agents and kicking out the taillight on their vehicle in a rage just 11 days before his death. And despite the fact that Good went to extraordinary lengths to impede a federal law-enforcement operation — blocking ICE vehicles, sounding her horn for minutes on end, dancing, and ultimately striking an agent with her car — the media tried desperately to present her as an innocent figure and ICE officers as villains. Absent from their coverage was any mention of the radical anti-ICE activist group, MN ICE Watch, to which Good belonged.
The post below highlights several pages from the group’s training manual.
Look at the training “MN Ice Watch” (which Renee Good belonged to) gives:
They train activists to assault law enforcement, to swarm, pressure, and open their car doors.
And they say each “de-arrest” is a “micro-intifada.” Do with that what you will.
H/t @StrackHaley pic.twitter.com/5TjXzJfljy
— Matt Whitlock (@MattWhitlock) January 11, 2026
The results from Cygnal contradict the media spin, showing that public attitudes remain far more stable — and far less malleable — than their reporting suggests.
In the end, the survey reinforces a reality that much of the legacy media continues to obscure: Americans have not abandoned their commitment to the rule of law. Voters may be capable of sympathy, but they are not confused about authority, legality, or responsibility. Deportation and immigration enforcement are not viewed as acts of cruelty by most Americans, but as necessary functions of a sovereign nation. While media narratives attempt to manufacture a moral and political turning point, the data shows the public remains clear-eyed, consistent, and unmoved.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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Comments
People aren’t stupid. We don’t have an endless supply of resources for people. We want legal immigration that is a net positive for the country. In fact, we need it now more than ever.
Unfortunately there are many that buy the koolaide
With our stolen money
People aren’t stupid about immigration but it doesn’t matter if they don’t vote that way.
Democrat Party have decided to go with an unpopular position but maximum propaganda, gaslighting, and government fraud to get their vote out.
It will work if we don’t vote.
Mayor Wu of Boston begs to differ. She says that all the people on Earth have a right to come here.
If the instant 3k / month social security payment + health insurance via medicaid + SNAP benefits didn’t rub sand in the eyes of normies, then the BILLIONS in fraud is likely to have been the tipping point.
Yep it’s the scale of the fraud, the permissive attitude and enablement of the fraud in some jurisdictions and the concentration of it is firing up normies.
but lefty keeps winning elections even in gop territory ….hmmmm
In TX the likely cause was GOP voters not bothering to vote. In 2026 it’s likely that they will be concerned enough to get out of their couches and vote.
Important caveat . in Special Elections held off cycle.
The off cycle elections create a structural advantage for the better organized turnout machine the d/prog posses. The d/prog won TX 9 State.Senate race which had 95K votes cast total….that’s 15K less votes than losing candidate received in the general election foe the same seat in ’22 and roughly 1/3 of the total vote count in ’22. The leftist/Marxist d/prog are more prone to be ‘joiners’ and follow the crowd v Indy and GoP voters who tend to embrace a more individualist attitude. Public sector unions fight tooth and nail to keep municipal, County and some Judicial elections scheduled off cycle b/c it magnifies their electoral clout in a low turnout environment.
You’ll see the same pattern repeated in nearly every special election and usually in off cycle elections, even for major offices; see Gov races in VA and NJ. I suspect that if those races were held on the same cycle as Congressional and Presidential elections they would be much tighter contests.
Not a surprise and no need to panic.
It’s easy to win if you cheat.
“Americans support deporting those in the country illegally by a [nearly] 2-to-1 margin, 61% to 34%.”
The percentage favoring deporting would be higher, quite higher, if the question were restricted to “illegals who committed crimes.”
And those people are the ones that ICE and Homan are concentrating on.
They all committed crimes by their very actions of coming here illegally
Of course. Homan/ICE are simply, at the moment, going after the low-hanging fruit. Because of the effort any number of the ones you describe are self-deporting.
And look at the frenzy the Ds are causing. They’re fighting like the honey badger TO KEEP CRIMINALS AMONG THE POPULATION.
I am so sick of that narrative. If you are here illegally, you have committed a crime. That makes you a criminal. Every single one of them
I’m sure you’re a criminal too. Going faster than the speed limit is a crime. There’s a reason the law lists misdemeanors and felonies separately. Homan is going after the felons first. That’s the correct priority.
Well sure, 61% can be in favor of deporting those in the country illegally, and also 61% can think ICE has gone too far with its gestapo tactics because those are not mutually exclusive questions.
For the Dems to gain seats during the midterms, all they need is for some independents to be turned off and stay home (as what just happened in TX).
Having Jean Pirro make some stupid remarks on Fox “I don’t care if you have a license in another district, and I don’t care if you’re a law-abiding gun owner somewhere else. You bring a gun into this district, count on going to jail.” … wont help.
Reciprocity is a thing gun rights groups have been fighting for for years.
Trump should declare the border closed and corner Dems on defunding ICE…. but its seems like the admin wants to lose the mid terms, or is at least resigned.
The District of Columbia doesn’t recognize any CCW from any state so US Attorney’s General Pirro is correct in her statement.
Under 18 USC 926B & 926C, active and retired LEO are allowed to carry concealed in the District. There are places that prohibit both groups from entering.
DC also has a 10 round magazine capacity that applies to the 926C retired group.
sigh….I know what the law is, and I have a CCW. Supposed republicans defending gun prohibitions the same way anti-gun Dems do mostly makes me want to vomit and stay home.
She is not “correct in her statement”. She didn’t say what she could legally do, she said she was most assuredly going to do it, and it’s something she shouldn’t be doing. We all know what a draconian law DC law has, but she should not be enforcing it.
The problem is that she’s a New Yorker, and doesn’t really believe in the right to keep and bear arms at all. I’ll do her the courtesy of believing that as a Republican she’s honestly dedicated to obeying the 2A anyway, and thus won’t knowingly violate it, but she doesn’t believe in the underlying right, so she has no qualms about going as far as SCOTUS will let her. Since SCOTUS hasn’t struck down the current DC laws, she feels morally comfortable enforcing them as harshly as possible. She has no sympathy for those caught up in them, because she has no sympathy for the idea of being armed. She thinks it’s an anachronism that she would ideally like to amend the constitution to delete, but so long as it’s there she’ll honor it.
And that’s the charitable version of what I think of her.
By the way, Trump’s the same. He doesn’t really believe in the RKBA, which is why he was so eager to ban bump stocks and back “red flag” laws, and saw no problem with them.
She is not “correct in her statement”. She didn’t say what she could legally do, she said she was most assuredly going to do it, and it’s something she shouldn’t be doing.
She is saying that she will hold you Democrats to the laws you pass.
The problem is that she’s a New Yorker, and doesn’t really believe in the right to keep and bear arms at all.
And don’t you let your filthy Democrat brain think for a second that you can speak for New Yorkers. Speak for yourself and your vile leftist brethren.
You, Azathoth, speak only for your fellow demons from Hell. Go back there, quickly. You are disgusting and every single word you write is a lie. I don’t understand why you have not been banned from this forum for poisoning it with your vicious slander and harassment.
Which specific tactics are ‘Gestapo tactics’ that you claim are being employed?
Even the roving patrols and stops on the street are within their authority. Every lawful alien age 18 + is required not just to show their immigration ‘papers’ upon request but to have them in their possession. Failure is a violation of the Immigration and Naturalization Act.
When some serious criminal alien is discovered or apprehended alongside some relatively less criminal illegal alien and both get taken into custody for deportation …that’s how the cookie crumbles. Same.for workplace enforcement operations. The smart play for every illegal alien worried about discovery/deportation is to take the $2,600 and the free plane ride offered by Trump Admin. That’s also what everyone concerned about illegal aliens being ’rounded up’ should be encouraging them to do…take.the $ and run while preserving their ability to apply for lawful admission to the USA at a later date. Get deported and that’s far less likely.
How about giving us some real-life examples of these “gestapo tactics” you tout.
“gestapo tactics”
How many German Jews tried to run over German police, or spit at them and kick their vehicles?
Not enough.
If I remember correctly, close to the same percentage was in favor of the National Guard’s actions at Kent State against protesters at that time.
If ICE were using gestapo tactics, all of these fascist ANTIFA idiots, bored brainwashed college fools, and paid bussed in recycled hippies would be leaving their insurrection parties in a box.
As per usual, the louder, the more vociferous, the more histrionic and the more violent the Dhimmi-crats’ subversive agitations and insurrectionist antics are, the less popular their cause du jour/grievance stance is, among U.S. voters, broadly.
A policy position that has genuine broad support among American voters doesn’t require terrorist violence and insurrectionist antics to compensate for a lack of organic popular support, by creating a loud volume level and manufactured/ginned-up rage,
This is what I don’t understand:
Democrats are on the wrong side of every 80/20 issue, yet somehow manage roughly 50/50 at the ballot box on average.
Because they win the ballot boxes found in the back of cars constituency 100/0
For many voters those aren’t the important issues. On the issues that decide their vote, they support the Dems.
It is easily explained. Surveys finding the 80/20 are biased. They never poll the cemeteries, which are Democrat strongholds.
This–
Because they win the ballot boxes found in the back of cars constituency 100/0
Not this-
For many voters those aren’t the important issues. On the issues that decide their vote, they support the Dems.
People whose policies and solutions resonate with the public don’t have to cheat.
The remaining 27% are brain-dead liberals.
About 20 years ago when I still subscribed to the NY Times (not for much longer) they ran a feature article on illegal immigrants, of course calling them “undocumented”. A large majority of the letters to the editor in response – from the Times’ lib Dem subscriber base – were some variation on “What part of illegal don’t you understand?”
Always keep in mind that the chaos you are seeing being portrayed in the media is ONLY happening in Democrat states that habour illegal immigrants (because they are a dependable voting block).
In States that work actively with ICE and CPB, who enforce laws, who remove road blocks etc, you are not seeing the levels of violence that CNN wants you to believe are occurring across the country.
The Bride and I watch the 6:00 news almost every night just to keep up with the local garbage. Not every night, but two-three times a week, there will be a ten second mention of ICE activity around the Birmingham area. That’s all they say. It’s all they have to say.
.
This is not a shocker.
It’s exactly why Democrat politicians used to pretend to oppose illegal immigration up until a few years ago when the nutballs completely took over the party.
“Even as we are a nation of immigrants, we are also a nation of laws. Undocumented workers broke our immigration laws, and I believe that they must be held accountable – especially those who may be dangerous. That’s why, over the past six years, deportations of criminals are up 80 percent.”
Who said it?
Barack Hussein Obama, 2014.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/heres-obama-will-say-tonight-immigration-speech
As long as people remember photos/videos of the hordes invading the southern border, it’s a no brainer but the leftist media would rather voters focus on the Prettis and Goods fighting to overturn the government.
Time to start re-playing the border invasion clips now and up until midterms.
Democrats are banking on the enthusiasm of their lunatic fringe, the legacy media propaganda machines, and a “robust” voter turnout (to include fraud wherever possible). This also depends on successful suppression of conservative efforts, which is not hard to do, given their tendency to select lackluster candidates, and then support them tepidly.
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