Daijiworld Media Network - Washington

Washington, Jan 27: American approval of President Donald Trump’s immigration policy has dropped to its lowest level since his return to the White House, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll has found, amid growing backlash over deadly encounters involving federal immigration agents in Minneapolis.

According to the nationwide poll conducted between January 23 and January 25, 53 per cent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration, while only 39 per cent approve, down from 41 per cent in the previous Reuters/Ipsos survey earlier this month. The poll covered 1,139 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of around three percentage points.

The survey was carried out before and after a January 24 incident in which immigration officers fatally shot a second U.S. citizen in Minneapolis during confrontations linked to protests against the deployment of immigration agents in cities across the country.
Immigration had initially been a relatively strong area for Trump after his January inauguration. In February 2025, 50 per cent of respondents approved of his immigration policy, while 41 per cent disapproved.

Trump won the 2024 presidential election promising a major surge in deportations. Since then, masked immigration officers in tactical gear have become a common sight nationwide, triggering protests in several cities. In Minneapolis, these protests have turned deadly.

On January 24, ICU nurse Alex Pretti, 37, was shot and killed by Border Patrol agents in South Minneapolis. The Trump administration has claimed Pretti assaulted officers during the protest, though bystander videos have raised questions about that account. Earlier, on January 7, another U.S. citizen, Renee Nicole Good, 37, was killed by a federal agent during an immigration raid in the same area.

Trump’s overall approval rating has also slipped. The latest poll places it at 38 per cent, matching the lowest level of his current term and down from 41 per cent in a January 12–13 survey.

The poll further found that 58 per cent of Americans believe Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have gone “too far” in their crackdown. Only 12 per cent said the agency has not gone far enough, while 26 per cent felt its actions were “about right”. Nearly nine in ten Democrats said ICE has gone too far, compared to about two in ten Republicans and six in ten independents.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said on January 26 that Trump had agreed to consider reducing the number of immigration agents in the state and to allow independent state investigations into the Pretti shooting. Walz described his conversation with the president as “productive”.

Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers have begun calling for investigations into the killing, as Democrats resist funding the Department of Homeland Security amid the threat of a government shutdown. Trump has announced that border czar Tom Homan will be sent to Minnesota to oversee operations on the ground.

Thousands of protesters in Minneapolis have continued demonstrations, braving subzero temperatures to condemn the shootings and demand an end to the federal intervention.