Calls to abolish ICE have been amplified since Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeated House Democratic Caucus Chair Joe Crowley in a Democratic primary for Crowley’s New York City-based seat. | Mary Altaffer/AP Photo Poll: Voters oppose abolishing ICE

A new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll shows that most voters oppose eliminating Immigration and Customs Enforcement — the homeland security agency some liberal Democrats have called for abolishing.

Only 1 in 4 voters in the poll, 25 percent, believe the federal government should get rid of ICE. The majority, 54 percent, think the government should keep ICE. Twenty-one percent of voters are undecided.


But a plurality of Democratic voters do support abolishing ICE, the poll shows. Among Democrats, 43 percent say the government should get rid of ICE, while only 34 percent say it should keep ICE. Majorities of Republicans (79 percent) and independents (54 percent) want the government to keep ICE.

Calls to abolish ICE have been amplified over the past two weeks — since Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a liberal challenger, defeated House Democratic Caucus Chair Joe Crowley in a Democratic primary for Crowley’s New York City-based seat. Ocasio-Cortez campaigned on the issue, and has said that ICE represents “the draconian enforcement that has happened since 2003 that routinely violates our civil rights, because, frankly, it was designed with that structure in mind.”

A handful of liberal figures — including some potential 2020 presidential candidates, like Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) — have also called for eliminating or replacing ICE, as have other Democratic primary challengers, like Cynthia Nixon, who is running against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

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President Donald Trump has, in turn, attacked Democrats for advocating the elimination of the agency.

“The Democrats are making a strong push to abolish ICE, one of the smartest, toughest and most spirited law enforcement groups of men and women that I have ever seen,” Trump tweeted last month, though the “Abolish ICE” position is not widely held in the party.

While the partisan differences on the issue are stark, so are the cleavages by age. Among voters under age 30, more support getting rid of ICE (39 percent) than keeping it (33 percent). But majorities among all other ages — 30-44 (51 percent), 45-54 (56 percent), 55-64 (61 percent) and 65 and older (68 percent) — support keeping the agency.

Asked whether they would be more or less likely to vote for a congressional candidate if they supported getting rid of ICE, 40 percent say it would make them less likely. Another 26 percent of voters say it would make them more likely to vote for the candidate. A third of voters said it would not make a difference either way or didn’t have an opinion.

Among Democrats, 40 percent say it would make them much more or somewhat more likely to vote for a candidate if he or she favored abolishing ICE — roughly twice as many as the 21 percent who said it would make them less likely to vote for that candidate.

But there is little support for eliminating ICE outside of the Democratic base.

“[C]ongressional candidates who embrace the ‘Abolish ICE’ movement could have a difficult time appealing to voters across party lines,” said Tyler Sinclair, Morning Consult’s managing director. “For example, over three-fifths (61 percent) of Republicans and 41 percent of independents say they would be less likely to vote for a congressional candidate who supported getting rid of ICE.”

The poll also shows an uptick in Trump’s approval rating, from 43 percent in late June to 46 percent in the new poll. The 3-point increase is just outside of the poll’s margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Half of voters disapprove of Trump’s job performance, down from 54 percent in late June.

Democrats have a 5-point lead in the generic congressional ballot, 42 percent to 37 percent. In late June, Democrats held an 8-point lead, though the change is within the poll’s margin of error.

The POLITICO/Morning Consult poll was conducted July 6-10, surveying 1,999 registered voters.

Morning Consult is a nonpartisan media and technology company that provides data-driven research and insights on politics, policy and business strategy.

More details on the poll and its methodology can be found in these two documents — Toplines: https://politi.co/2KLvfiK| Crosstabs: https://politi.co/2ztGxD0