A Fox News analyst broke ranks after new polling delivered a harsh reality check on Donald Trump’s aggressive ICE agenda, saying the president’s hardline deportation drive had “hit its political limits.”
The survey followed Trump’s decision to deploy thousands of federal immigration agents to Minneapolis as part of what he described as a crackdown on the “worst of the worst.”
Instead, the operation has become mired in controversy after two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by federal agents in separate incidents within weeks of each other.
One of the victims was 37-year-old Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse at the Minneapolis VA, who was fatally shot Saturday after intervening to help a woman agents had shoved to the ground, according to witnesses and video. His killing followed the earlier death of 37-year-old mother Renee Good, who was shot by an ICE agent on Jan. 7.
In both cases, officials initially described the victims as having posed a violent threat—claims later challenged by video evidence. Authorities falsely said Good tried to ram agents with her car, while Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem labeled Pretti a “domestic terrorist,” saying he threatened agents with a gun. Footage instead shows Pretti holding a cellphone, with his legally carried handgun still holstered until an agent removed it moments before the shooting.
The administration’s handling of the incidents has prompted widespread backlash. Noem faces mounting calls to resign, nearly 150 lawmakers have backed impeachment efforts, and Border Patrol commander-at-large Greg Bovino has been withdrawn from Minnesota.
Republican leaders have also broken ranks, with Vermont Gov. Phil Scott calling the shootings “murder,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski raising “serious questions” about enforcement practices, and Sen. Bill Cassidy urging an independent investigation.
As the political pressure mounts, Trump’s standing on immigration, previously one of his strongest issues, appears to be slipping.
A Fox News poll, conducted January 23-26, found that 59 percent of registered voters believe ICE has been too heavy-handed—up 10 points from July of last year. The survey also showed 55 percent disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration. The poll had a margin of error of +/- 3 percentage points.
Fox News Chief Political Analyst Brit Hume said the data suggests Trump’s enforcement campaign has “hit its political limits.”
“It suggests that while the administration was within its limits—its legal limits—in this immigration crackdown and the dragnet that’s going on, particularly out in Minnesota, it has hit its political limits," he said on Wednesday’s Special Report.
“And the public’s response to what it is seeing on TV screens and reading about in publications and so forth suggests that people, they want the border closed, they want criminal illegals rounded up, but they see these scenes in the street, particularly the two killings in Minnesota and they see people who seem otherwise innocent—although they may be here illegally—rounded up, they don’t like that.
“We have a compassionate people, and even illegal immigrants are not beyond the scope of that compassion. I think the administration is being seen as having gone too far on this, and the polls certainly suggest that,” he added.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
Trump has repeatedly lashed out at Fox News polling when it reflects poorly on him, accusing the network of pushing “fake” and “fraudulent” surveys. Despite losing the 2020 election by more than seven million votes, Trump continues to reject the results and has grouped Fox News alongside other media outlets he claims knowingly published inaccurate polls.
But the Fox poll is not the only survey to have shown Trump down on immigration recently.
A Reuters/Ipsos survey conducted from Friday to Sunday found that just 39 percent of Americans approve of his handling of the issue, a notable drop from earlier this year when approval stood at 50 percent in both February and March.
At the same time, a new YouGov/The Economist poll indicates growing support for dismantling ICE, with about 46 percent of respondents in favor and 41 percent opposed. This marks a slight shift from earlier in the month, when several surveys suggested public opinion on the matter was nearly evenly split.
