POLL: Only 25% Of Americans Believe We Should ‘Abolish ICE’

Progressive Democrats may think abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency is a good idea, but around two-thirds of Americans do not — and it may cost Democrats in the long run.

According to a Politico/Morning Consult poll out Wednesday, “only 1 in 4 voters in the poll, 25%, believe the federal government should get rid of ICE.” More than half of Americans polled believe we should keep ICE. Only about 20% of those polled were undecided.

Most of those who want to abolish ICE are, in fact, Democrats, and Democrats respond more favorably to the suggestion, Politico found. A plurality of Democrats, 43%, believe that there’s merit in reforming the government agency charged with handling human trafficking.

That’s good news only for Democrats who are safely in Democratic districts, however.

“[C]ongressional candidates who embrace the ‘Abolish ICE’ movement could have a difficult time appealing to voters across party lines,” Morning Consult’s managing director said in a statement. “For example, over three-fifths (61 percent) of Republicans and 41 percent of independents say they would be less likely to vote for a congressional candidate who supported getting rid of ICE.”

A renewed push on immigration designed to capitalize on what Democrats believe are major Trump Administration missteps on the subject, hasn’t borne the kind of fruit Democrats expected.

In the weeks immediately following a Trump Administration policy change that left immigrant children separated from parents awaiting asylum hearings, Democrats actually fell 1% on the generic Congressional ballot. Now, as more Democrats take up the clarion call to abolish a major government entity, appeal seems to have waned further. Democrats are expected to lose the battle to overtake Republicans in the Senate, though they are still expected to make some gains in the House.