Also:
- 37% say shooting of Renee Good was justified, 62% say it was not justified
- General support for deportations remains steady, with 56% favoring deporting those in the U.S. illegally
- Overall approval of President Trump is at 42%, continuing a gradual decline
- Opinion of the state of the economy improves from November
MILWAUKEE — A new Marquette Law School poll finds 40% of adults nationwide approve of the way U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, is handling its job, while 60% disapprove. The poll was conducted after the shooting in Minneapolis of Renee Good, but with most interviews completed before the shooting of Alex Pretti on Jan. 24, 2026.
Views of ICE are sharply divided along partisan lines with 80% of Republicans approving of its work, compared to 23% of independents and 5% of Democrats.
Thirty-seven percent of respondents say the shooting of Good was justified, and 62% say it was not justified. Here, too, there is a large partisan gap, with 76% of Republicans, 21% of independents, and 5% of Democrats saying it was justified.
The Good shooting was highly visible to Americans, with 76% saying they had heard or read a lot about it, 17% saying they had heard a little, and 7% saying they had heard nothing at all. Independents were less likely to have heard a lot (55%) than either Republicans (76%) or Democrats (84%).
The survey was conducted Jan. 21-28, 2026, interviewing 1,003 adults nationwide, with a margin of error of +/-3.4 percentage points. For registered voters, the sample size was 869, with a margin of error of +/-3.6. For likely voters, the sample size was 577, with a margin of error of +/-4.4 percentage points.
Opinion about deportations has hardly changed since November. In the current poll, 56% favored deporting “immigrants who are living in the United States illegally,” with 44% opposed. In November, 58% favored and 42% opposed such deportations.
Among those who favor deportations, about a third, 35%, disapprove of the way ICE is enforcing immigration, while 65% approve of ICE’s conduct. Those who oppose deportations are almost unanimously opposed to ICE, with 96% disapproving and 4% approving.
When asked about deportations of those who “have lived here for a number of years, have jobs and no criminal record,” support for deportations declines to 44%, with 56% opposed. This result is unchanged from November.
Those who favor deporting longtime residents without a criminal record are more approving of ICE’s conduct, with 78% approval against 22% disapproval. Of those opposed to deporting longtime residents without a criminal record, 89% disapprove of ICE, while 11% approve.
Fifty-two percent say the United States is mostly deporting immigrants who have no criminal record, while 47% say most deportations are of people with criminal records. Among Republicans, 83% say most deportees have criminal records, while 57% of independents and 86% of Democrats say most deportees have no criminal record.
Approval of President Donald Trump’s handling of immigration stands at 44%, with 56% who disapprove. In November, 45% approved and 55% disapproved of how Trump has handled immigration. Approval on this issue has declined from 50% in May, with net approval standing at -12 percentage points, as shown in Table 1. (All results in the tables are stated as percentages.)
Table 1: Approval of Trump handling of immigration
Among adults
| Poll dates | Approval | ||
| Net approve minus disapprove | Approve | Disapprove | |
| 1/21-28/26 | -12 | 44 | 56 |
| 11/5-12/25 | -10 | 45 | 55 |
| 9/15-24/25 | -8 | 46 | 54 |
| 7/7-16/25 | -6 | 47 | 53 |
| 5/5-15/25 | 0 | 50 | 50 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, national surveys, latest: Jan. 21-28, 2026 | |||
| Question: [Immigration] Overall, how much do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling each of the following issues? | |||
Attention to news
The Good shooting in Minneapolis received the most attention from the public among seven topics covered, with 76% hearing or reading a lot, followed by the military operation in Venezuela that captured Nicolás Maduro, with 65% hearing a lot. The partial release of the Jeffrey Epstein files also caught the attention of more than half of the public.
Items falling below 50% of respondents saying they read or heard a lot include the killing of film director Rob Reiner and the social services fraud in Minnesota. Lower in public attention are the renaming of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as the Trump-Kennedy Center. The news that got the least attention was the decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to allow Texas to use its redrawn congressional districts in the 2026 elections. Table 2 shows the complete results.
Table 2: Attention to events in the news
Among adults
| Item | Heard or read | ||
| A lot | A little | Nothing at all | |
| The fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman, Renee Good, by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent | 76 | 17 | 7 |
| The U.S. Army operation in Venezuela that captured Nicolás Maduro | 65 | 27 | 8 |
| The partial release of the Jeffrey Epstein files by the Department of Justice | 57 | 34 | 9 |
| The killing of filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner and his wife in December | 48 | 36 | 17 |
| A widespread social services fraud scandal in Minnesota including Medicaid, housing, and autism services | 45 | 31 | 24 |
| Renaming the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington as the Trump-Kennedy Center | 40 | 32 | 28 |
| The U.S. Supreme Court decision in December that allowed Texas to use redrawn congressional districts in the 2026 elections | 29 | 41 | 31 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, national survey: Jan. 21-28, 2026 | |||
| Question: Here are some recent topics in the news. How much have you heard or read about each of these? | |||
Some news items become equally well known regardless of which news sources people rely upon—only conservative television news sources (Fox News, Newsmax, or OAN) or other network television news (ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, PBS or BBC)—while others show substantial differences.
There is little difference in amount heard about the Venezuela operation, the Good shooting, or the killing of Rob Reiner, with small amounts more of other-network TV news consumers hearing more about these events than those who consume only conservative TV news sources.
There are larger differences for news about the Supreme Court’s Texas redistricting decision, and much larger gaps are found for the Epstein files, the Minnesota social services fraud scandal, and renaming the Kennedy Center. More other-network TV news consumers (than those who consume only conservative TV news sources) had heard or read a lot about the Texas redistricting decision by about 10 percentage points (44% to 34%), the Epstein files by 26 points (75% to 49%), and renaming the Kennedy Center by 31 more points (63% to 32%).
With the Minnesota social services fraud scandal, 71% of conversative TV news consumers had heard or read a lot, compared to 45% of other-network TV news consumers—a 26-point difference.
A consistent result across all topics is that those who rely on other news sources, neither conservative nor other network news, are notably less likely to have heard a lot about any of these topics. Only one topic had more than 50% of consumers of other news sources hearing or reading it—60% have heard or read a lot about the Good shooting.
The full results are shown in Table 3.
Table 3: Attention to events in the news, by news sources
Among adults
| Item | Heard or read a lot | ||||
| Net conservative minus other network | Conservative TV news only | Conservative & other network TV news | Other network TV news only | Only other news sources | |
| The U.S. Army operation in Venezuela that captured Nicolás Maduro | -4 | 74 | 73 | 78 | 47 |
| The fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman, Renee Good, by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent | -5 | 83 | 84 | 88 | 60 |
| The killing of filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner and his wife in December | -7 | 54 | 56 | 61 | 31 |
| The U.S. Supreme Court decision in December that allowed Texas to use redrawn congressional districts in the 2026 elections | -10 | 34 | 29 | 44 | 15 |
| The partial release of the Jeffrey Epstein files by the Department of Justice | -26 | 49 | 65 | 75 | 42 |
| A widespread social services fraud scandal in Minnesota including Medicaid, housing, and autism services | 26 | 71 | 60 | 45 | 30 |
| Renaming the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington as the Trump-Kennedy Center | -31 | 32 | 46 | 63 | 21 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, national survey: Jan. 21-28, 2026 | |||||
| Question: Here are some recent topics in the news. How much have you heard or read about each of these? | |||||
Partisans differ in where they turn for news, with Republicans more likely to rely on only conservative sources, while Democrats are much more likely to rely only on other network news sources. However, it is notable that 28% of Republicans rely on a mix of conservative and other network sources, while half that many Democrats, 13%, digest this mix of sources. Independents are much more likely than partisans to ignore television news and to rely on other news sources. Table 4 shows these results.
Table 4: News sources, by party identification
Among adults
| Party ID | News sources | |||
| Conservative TV news only | Conservative & other network TV news | Other network TV news only | Only other news sources | |
| Republican | 22 | 28 | 14 | 36 |
| Independent | 6 | 16 | 17 | 61 |
| Democrat | 2 | 13 | 52 | 32 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, national survey, Jan. 21-28, 2026 | ||||
| Question: Which of the following, if any, have you read, watched, or listened to in the past month for information about political news and current affairs? | ||||
2026 congressional vote
Looking ahead to November, 48% of registered voters say they would vote for the Democratic candidate for Congress and 44% would vote for the Republican candidate. Among likely voters, i.e., those who say they are certain to vote next November, 52% support the Democratic candidate and 45% prefer the Republican. In November 2025, 49% favored the Democrat and 44% the Republican among registered voters.
In this poll, Democrats are only slightly advantaged by a greater commitment to voting in November’s midterm elections. Among registered voters, 72% of Democrats say they are certain to vote, compared to 70% of Republicans. That is a narrower edge than in November’s survey, in which 75% of Democrats were certain to vote versus 68% of Republicans.
Independents are much less likely to vote than either partisan camp, as shown in Table 5.
Table 5: Likelihood of voting, by party identification
Among registered voters
| Poll dates | Likelihood of voting | |||
| Absolutely certain to vote | Very likely to vote | Chances are 50-50 | Don’t think will vote | |
| Republican | ||||
| 1/21-28/26 | 70 | 18 | 11 | 1 |
| 11/5-12/25 | 68 | 19 | 9 | 4 |
| Independent | ||||
| 1/21-28/26 | 41 | 26 | 26 | 7 |
| 11/5-12/25 | 37 | 27 | 22 | 14 |
| Democrat | ||||
| 1/21-28/26 | 72 | 17 | 7 | 4 |
| 11/5-12/25 | 75 | 16 | 7 | 2 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, national surveys, latest: Jan. 21-28, 2026 | ||||
| Question: What are the chances that you will vote in the November 2026 general election for congressional and state offices– are you absolutely certain to vote, very likely to vote, are the chances 50-50, or don’t you think you will vote? | ||||
Approval of how Republicans in Congress are doing their job stands at 39%, with disapproval at 60%. This is little-changed from November, when 40% approved and 60% disapproved.
For Democrats in Congress, 29% of respondents approve and 71% disapprove. This is a considerable decline from November, during the federal government shutdown, when 36% approved and 64% disapproved.
The decline in approval of Democrats, and the stability of Republicans, come from differences in support within their parties. Approval of congressional Democrats among Democratic voters fell from 64% in November to 51% in January. By contrast, approval of Republicans in Congress among Republican voters has remained stable, with 79% approval in November and 80% approval in January.
Democrats in Congress also experienced a decline in approval among independents, from 29% approval in November to 21% approval in January. Approval of congressional Republicans among independents rose 2 points, from 20% in November to 22% in January.
The reason Democrats are able to maintain their lead in the congressional vote is that Democrats are extremely loyal to their party’s congressional candidates, despite their disappointment with their party. Table 6 shows the congressional vote choices by party for January and November among registered voters. Democrats are slightly more loyal to their party than Republicans are to theirs. Democrats also have an advantage among independents, though many of them say they would support neither party or not vote.
Table 6: 2026 congressional vote, by party identification
Among registered voters
| Poll dates | Congressional vote choice | |||
| Democratic candidate | Republican candidate | Neither | Would not vote | |
| Republican | ||||
| 1/21-28/26 | 6 | 92 | 2 | 0 |
| 11/5-12/25 | 4 | 91 | 5 | 0 |
| Independent | ||||
| 1/21-28/26 | 36 | 10 | 51 | 4 |
| 11/5-12/25 | 38 | 17 | 39 | 6 |
| Democrat | ||||
| 1/21-28/26 | 95 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 11/5-12/25 | 96 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Marquette Law School Poll, national surveys, latest: Jan. 21-28, 2026 | ||||
| Question: If the election for Congress were held today, would you vote for the (Democratic) candidate in your district or the | ||||
