CNN polls show Trump's approval plunged after fatal shooting in Minneapolis by ICE agent

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: CNN senior data correspondent Harry Enten on Wednesday, January 14, laid out grim new polling for President Donald Trump and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), showing a steep collapse in public support following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross.

Appearing on CNN’s 'The Source with Kaitlan Collins', Enten said Americans now viewed ICE far more negatively than during Trump’s first term, marking a dramatic shift in public opinion.

According to CNN polling, ICE’s net approval rating had dropped to minus 17 points, a 17-point decline from its roughly neutral standing during Trump’s first presidency. Among independents, ICE’s numbers were even worse.

Majority say ICE makes cities less safe

Enten pointed to a new CNN/SSRS poll that helped explain the agency’s growing unpopularity. A majority of Americans, 51%, now say ICE enforcement makes US cities less safe. That figure rises to 59% among people who live in cities.

Only 31% of respondents said ICE enforcement improved public safety, underscoring what Enten described as a losing argument for the administration.

“What we see here is Trump and ICE losing this argument over ICE going into cities and making them safer,” Enten said.

Trump’s immigration ratings slide deep into the red

The backlash was also taking a toll on Trump personally. Immigration had been a cornerstone of all three of Trump’s presidential campaigns and was once a political strength.

But CNN polling showed that Trump’s net approval on immigration had plunged from plus three points earlier in his second term to minus 16 points, a 19-point drop in less than a year.

A key driver, Enten said, was the perception that Trump had gone too far on deportations. In February 2025, 45% of Americans said that the administration’s deportation efforts were excessive. That number has now climbed to 52% overall and 56% among independents.

Enten concluded that the political damage was clear and growing. “The bottom line is this,” he said. “ICE and Trump are losing the argument when it comes to the American people. They don’t like this immigration enforcement, and it is costing Trump political points.”

As the segment wrapped, Collins noted the continued fallout from Good’s killing and the broader national debate over immigration enforcement.

Ratings affected after killing of Renee Good in ICE shooting 

On January 7, 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good was fatally shot by ICE agent Jonathan Ross during a large federal immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis.

Video and witness accounts showed Good in her car when Ross fired multiple shots, killing her; federal officials claimed that he acted in self-defense after being struck, though local leaders and family disputed that narrative. 

The killing sparked nationwide protests, political debates over ICE tactics, and legal scrutiny, with Good’s family hiring prominent civil rights lawyers amid growing calls for accountability.

The incident intensified scrutiny of federal immigration enforcement under the Trump administration.