Trump's ICE Crackdown Resurfaces as Political Risk Before Midterms
Fatal shootings, detention deaths and viral arrest stories are reviving public backlash against ICE just as Republicans face tough midterm races.
President Donald Trump's Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency is intensifying operations nationwide, reviving political controversies that had faded from headlines as the midterm elections approach, according to an NBC News analysis.
Even with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin now leading the department, old questions have returned: who ICE is targeting for arrest, fatal shootings following vehicle stops, and deaths in detention. Negative coverage has resurfaced in cities across the country, including in battleground states, along with renewed public outcry.
Polling shows the shift. After two shootings of U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents in Minnesota earlier this year, an NBC News poll found 60% of adults disapproved of Trump's handling of immigration — a sharp change from earlier surveys where immigration ranked among his strongest issues. A July Economist/YouGov poll found 54% disapproved of his immigration handling, the same share expressed little or no confidence in ICE, and 58% of respondents, including 63% of independents, said the agency has used too much force.
In Maine, outrage over the shooting death of Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero by an ICE agent last month has put Republican Sen. Susan Collins under scrutiny for her June vote to fund the agency without policy restrictions. Protesters gathered outside her Biddeford office. Democrats view her seat as pivotal to retaking the Senate, and Collins is trying to navigate an unpopular president, the Iran war and high living costs.
In Texas, where Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton faces Democratic state Rep. James Talarico in a closely watched Senate race, a self-described lifelong Republican, John Gannon, drew national attention after his fiancée was arrested at an airport. "They're destroying families. Jobs," he told CBS News, adding he would not vote for Trump again. Separately, the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by immigration agents in Texas is under investigation.
Under Mullin, ICE has reported record arrest numbers, but fatalities and questions over agent training and arrest legality continue to mount. Trump has resisted pulling back: after DHS said last month it would suspend vehicle stops following two fatal shootings, he wrote on Truth Social, "We CANNOT give up one of ICE's most important and effective Crime Fighting tools. THE TRAFFIC STOP!"
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This article was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI), in accordance with our editorial policy.
