Miami (USA).- 46% of Americans support abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after the death of a woman by shots from its agents in Minnesota, according to a survey by YouGov and The Economist revealed this Tuesday, the first to show more people in favor of eliminating this agency.
The poll is the first to show that there are more Americans who support ending ICE than those who oppose it, as 43% of respondents said they were against abolishing the agency, created in 2003 by then-President George W. Bush (2001-2009) after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Furthermore, 47% of those surveyed considered that
ICE is making Americans “less safe,” compared to 34% who thought it creates “more safety.”
The survey was conducted from the 9th to the 12th of January following the death on January 7th of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old white American citizen, who died after being shot by ICE agents during an operation in Minneapolis, which sparked nationwide protests against the agency.
The Donald Trump administration has accused the woman of “domestic terrorism” because, according to officials, she tried to run over ICE agents with her vehicle, but local authorities have denied this narrative by pointing out that the videos show that she was trying to get away, but the officers followed her.
Regarding this, half of Americans, 50%, believed that the shooting of Good was “not justified”, while less than a third, 30%, considered it “justified” and the rest said they were not sure, according to the YouGov and The Economist poll.
Furthermore, the opinion study showed that almost three-quarters of the population,
73%, thinks that ICE should wear uniforms in their arrests, and 56% expressed that they should not be allowed to wear masks, as reported by people detained by the agency.
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Almost half, 49%, expressed “very little” confidence in ICE, compared to 15% who expressed “a great deal of confidence” and 17% who reported “a lot”.
The incident has heightened scrutiny of progressive Democrats towards the agency, as federal congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez reiterated this Tuesday that her stance is still to abolish ICE.
But
ICE announced last week that its force grew by 120% after hiring 12,000 agents, bringing the total to 22,000, thanks to the “great and beautiful law” that Trump signed last year and that will make it the largest security agency in the United States.
The survey was conducted with 1,602 Americans with digital interviews and a margin of error of 3.3%.
