ICE Operations: What Americans Actually Want | Meaghan Mobbs

From Problematic Women by The Daily Signal

February 7, 2026 · 33 min

About this episode

Meaghan Mobbs discusses the American public's views on immigration enforcement and the need for a balanced approach.

President Donald Trump says a “softer touch” may be needed to carry out his immigration enforcement agenda. “I learned that maybe we can use a little bit of a softer touch, but you still have to be tough. These are criminals – we're dealing with really hard criminals,” Trump told NBC News following the deaths of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis in January. Two separate polls confirm the president’s conclusion is in line with the American public’s view of U.S. immigration policy. A recent NPR/PBS News/Marist poll found that 65% of Americans feel that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have gone too far in enforcing immigration laws. But recent polling from the group Cygnal shows that 54% of Americans support ICE enforcing U.S. immigration laws to remove illegal aliens from the country. The same poll found that 61% of U.S. voters support deporting illegal aliens. “I think what those two polls are actually doing is talking about policy, and they're talking about the execution of policy,” Meaghan Mobbs, director of the Center for American Safety and Security at the Independent Women’s Forum, says. “Americans support the policy, which is deportation, but like…

People in this episode

Hosts: Elise McCue, Virginia Allen

Guest: Meaghan Mobbs

Topics covered

immigration
ICE
polling
public opinion
deportation

Keywords

Trump
NPR
PBS
Marist poll
Cygnal

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Problematic Women, Top News in 10

Places: Minneapolis, U.S., Minnesota, the Twin Cities