Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Loses Public Support as Minnesota Killing Sparks Push for Reform
Washington, DC — Immigration advocates and civil liberties groups are urging lawmakers to act swiftly as public support for President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement agenda continues to erode following the killing of a U.S. citizen by federal agents in Minnesota.
At a news conference Wednesday, legal experts and advocacy leaders said the political ground has shifted sharply against Trump’s mass deportation push, once the signature issue of his second term, creating a rare opening for Congress to impose reforms, rein in ICE, and reassert oversight authority.
“I think we are really at an inflection point here,” said Kate Voigt, senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union. “More and more people are seeing that ICE is dangerous, violent, operating with impunity. People are angry, scared, and motivated and they’re looking to Congress for action.”
Minnesota Becomes the Breaking Point
The renewed scrutiny follows the killing of Renée Nicole Good, a 37-year-old nurse and mother of three, who was shot by an ICE agent in a Minneapolis suburb on January 7. Video of the encounter spread rapidly online, casting doubt on the Trump administration’s immediate claim that Good attempted to run over an officer, a justification later contradicted by eyewitness accounts and footage.
Within minutes of the shooting, Trump officials labeled Good a “domestic terrorist.” Federal authorities then removed local law enforcement from the investigation and rejected calls for a standard civil rights probe. Rather than de-escalating, the administration flooded Minnesota with additional agents, ultimately deploying nearly 3,000 federal officers, while portraying nationwide protests as the work of “agitators” and “insurrectionists.” The Department of Justice has since opened investigations into Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, two outspoken critics of the federal response.
Minnesota, along with the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, has now filed suit alleging systematic civil-rights violations by ICE agents, citing repeated detentions, harassment of U.S. citizens, and enforcement actions without probable cause.
A Massively Expanded ICE
The backlash comes as ICE operates with unprecedented resources. Trump’s 2025 tax and spending package, dubbed the “Big Beautiful Bill” by the president, delivered $170 billion to the Department of Homeland Security. Roughly $75 billion of that funding is earmarked for ICE over four years, including:
$45 billion to expand detention capacity
$30 billion to intensify enforcement operations
That funding sits atop ICE’s existing annual budget of roughly $10 billion, making it the most heavily funded federal law enforcement agency in the U.S. Critics have labeled the additional money a poorly supervised “slush fund,” warning it has fueled what the Brennan Center for Justice describes as a growing “deportation industrial complex.” ICE’s ranks have ballooned to more than 22,000 agents, with daily detention targets reaching 100,000 people, nearly triple historic norms, and an annual deportation goal of one million, far exceeding the administration’s previous totals.
Communities Push Back, Including Police
Local officials say the consequences are now visible on the ground. During a Tuesday briefing, law enforcement leaders in Minnesota reported a surge in complaints from residents and even off-duty officers describing encounters with ICE agents demanding paperwork without cause.
“Residents are being stopped with no cause and forced to prove they’re here legally,” said Mark Bruley, police chief of Brooklyn Park. “Every person this has happened to has been a person of color.”
Advocates argue that enforcement has drifted far beyond immigration law.
“ICE and Border Patrol are not using taxpayer dollars for immigration enforcement,” said Heidi Altman, vice president of policy at the National Immigration Law Center. “They’re using it to project executive power.”
Polling Shows a Sharp Shift
Public opinion appears to be catching up.
A CBS News/YouGov poll found 61 percent of Americans believe ICE tactics are “too tough,” and 52 percent say the agency makes communities less safe.
An ACLU-commissioned poll showed 55 percent of voters oppose mass ICE raids, while 84 percent support the right to observe and document ICE activity.
An AP-NORC poll found disapproval of Trump’s immigration handling rose to 61 percent by mid-January, reversing a near-even split just months earlier.
Trump has responded by attacking the media and urging DHS to publicize arrests more aggressively.
“Show the Numbers, Names, and Faces of the violent criminals,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The people will start supporting the Patriots of ICE.”
Congress at a Crossroads
Despite the shifting public mood, Congress remains narrowly controlled by Republicans, many of whom have shown little willingness to challenge Trump on immigration. Democratic proposals to reduce ICE funding, impose identification requirements on agents, or impeach DHS Secretary Kristi Noem have stalled. Still, advocates say an upcoming DHS funding bill represents a critical test. The current proposal would raise ICE’s annual detention budget by $400 million and enforcement funding by more than $300 million, on top of last year’s historic windfall.
“It’s insane to give more money to an already bloated agency,” said Beatriz Lopez, founder of the Democracy Power Project. “This bill is a chance to finally check ICE.”
Amy Fischer of Amnesty International USA warned that continuing as normal is no longer defensible.
“We can’t do business as usual when a hyper-militarized agency is running lawless in our country and killing U.S. citizens,” Fischer said. “Congress has to respond.”
With midterm elections approaching, Trump’s defining issue now risks becoming his most volatile liability — not because voters oppose immigration enforcement outright, but because they are increasingly rejecting the cost of how it is being carried out.
