A set of recently released polls found Americans largely at odds with the Trump administration and its defense of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent who fatally shot Minneapolis woman Renee Good.
A Quinnipiac University poll found 53% of registered voters saying the shooting of Good was not justified, 35% saying it was justified and 12% with no opinion. Over 9 in 10 Democrats and roughly 6 in 10 independents said the shooting was not justified, but over three-quarters of Republicans said it was.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents walk during an immigration raid, days after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Jan. 13, 2026.
Ryan Murphy/Reuters
Similarly, a CNN poll found a 56% majority of Americans saying the shooting was an inappropriate use of force, with just 26% saying it was appropriate. Another 18% said they hadn’t heard enough to say. About half (51%) said that the fatal shooting reflects bigger problems with the way ICE is operating.
The CNN poll also found 51% of Americans saying ICE enforcement actions were making cities less safe, with 31% saying they were making cities safer and 18% saying ICE was having little effect on safety.
There’s a partisan split here, with 82% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents saying ICE enforcement was making cities less safe and 67% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents saying it was making cities safer.
A Homeland Securities Investigation agent shoves a photojournalist back as other federal agents tackle a community observer during an immigration raid that led to the detainment of two Hispanic youths and multiple observers, days after an ICE agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Jan. 13, 2026.
Tim Evans/Reuters
More Americans said in the CNN poll that they were concerned about crackdowns against those protesting deportations (47%) rather than the protests getting out of hand (37%).
A newly obtained cellphone video shows the moments before Renee Good was fatally shot in her car in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, 2026.
Obtained by ABC News
And Americans voiced little trust in the federal government to carry out a fair and thorough investigation of the shooting in Minneapolis, according to the CNN poll, with 62% saying they had just some or no trust at all — including nearly half (47%) who said they had no trust at all. Just 17% said they trust the government “a great deal” to investigate the shooting.
In all, according to the Quinnipiac poll, 82% of U.S. voters have seen the video of Good being fatally shot by the ICE agent.
Approval ratings on ICE, Trump’s handling of immigration, Noem
The Quinnipiac poll found 57% of voters disapproving of how ICE is enforcing immigration laws, with 40% approving, largely unchanged from Quinnipiac’s previous polling in July. Most Democrats and independents disapprove of how ICE is enforcing laws; most Republicans approve.
A 58% majority disapproves of how Trump is handling immigration, while 42% approve, exactly the same as CNN measured in July.
The same poll found a slim 52% majority of Americans saying Trump’s efforts to deport immigrants living in the U.S. illegally have gone too far, 31% said they have been about right and just 16% said they have not gone far enough.
The CNN poll found 61% of Americans disapproving of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s handling of her job, with just 38% approving — worse than what Quinnipiac found among registered voters, more of whom voiced no opinion than in CNN’s poll (36% approved, 52% disapproved).
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington, D.C.
Evan Vucci/AP
The Quinnipiac poll was conducted Jan. 8-12 among 1,133 registered voters and has a margin of error of +/- 3.7 percentage points.
The CNN poll was conducted Jan. 9-12 among 1,209 U.S. adults with an error margin of +/- 3.1 percentage points.