A growing majority of Americans say Immigration and Customs Enforcement has gone too far in enforcing immigration laws and is making the country less safe, according to a new NPR/PBS News/Marist Poll released Thursday.
About two-thirds of U.S. adults, 65%, say ICE’s actions have gone too far, up from 54% in June 2025, while 12% say the agency has not gone far enough and 22% say its actions are about right, a slight decline from last summer.
Public concern also extends to safety, with 62% of Americans saying ICE's actions are making the country somewhat less safe or much less safe, while 37% said they believe the agency is making the nation safer.
Overall, 60% of respondents said they disapprove of the job ICE is doing, compared with 33% who approve.
The poll highlights sharp partisan divisions.
Ninety-three percent of Democrats say ICE has gone too far, up from 83% in 2025, as do 71% of independents.
Among Republicans, a plurality of 45% say ICE's actions are about right, though the share who say the agency has gone too far has risen to 27%.
Perceptions of safety also split along party lines.
More than nine in 10 Democrats and 68% of independents say ICE's actions are making Americans less safe, including 80% of Democrats who say the country is much less safe.
In contrast, 77% of Republicans say ICE is making Americans safer, with 52% saying it is making the country much safer.
Views of anti-ICE demonstrations mirror those divisions. Nearly six in ten Americans, 59%, say demonstrations opposing ICE are mostly legitimate protests, while 40% say they involve people acting unlawfully. Large majorities of Democrats and independents see the protests as legitimate, while 75% of Republicans say they are mostly unlawful.
The poll also asked voters about priorities for President Donald Trump's administration.
A majority, 54%, say lowering prices should be the top priority, followed by controlling immigration at 22%.
Reducing crime ranks third at 10%, with smaller shares naming securing peace in Gaza, eliminating drug trafficking from Venezuela, or U.S. ownership of Greenland.
Seven in ten Democrats and nearly six in ten independents say lowering prices should be the administration's focus.
Republicans are more divided, with 44% prioritizing immigration and 32% saying lowering prices should come first.
The NPR/PBS News/Marist Poll surveyed 1,462 adults nationwide from Jan. 27 through Jan. 30, 2026, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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