More Americans support abolishing ICE than keeping it

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Post on Bluesky from John Abernathy, Minneapolis-based photographer. Photo by Pierre Lavie.

Authoritarian Chill: Minnesota, Greenland, and ICE

There are a lot of crazy events this past week – and very hard to keep up with all of them. However, it’s pretty clear Americans don’t like what’s happening.

In a recent YouGov poll, taken between January 9-12, 2026, here are a few striking questions on how Americans feel about the direction of the country under the Trump administration (with crosstabs) - here’s just a sampling: [1][2]

Would you say things in this country today are...

Generally headed in the right direction – 30%
Off on the wrong track – 61%
19%-68% split among Independents

Do you support or oppose the U.S. using military force to take control of Greenland?

8% support
68% oppose
5%-72% split among Independents

Do you think Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers should be allowed to wear masks that hide their identities when making arrests?

32% Yes
56% No
25%-61% split among Independents

Do you support or oppose the U.S. using military force to invade Venezuela?

30% support
56% oppose
22%-62% split among Independents

And possibly the most shocking turn in public opinion is how Americans feel about disbanding ICE altogether:

Would you support or oppose abolishing ICE?

46% support
43% oppose
47%-35% split among Independents

In fact, Bill Kristol – yes, that Bill Kristol – came out this week in strong opposition to what ICE is doing in America. This from his recent post on The Bulwark: [3]

Fighting ICE’s Reign of Terror
The unjustified and indefensible killing of an innocent woman, Renee Good, by U.S. government agents; the lack of any recognition or acknowledgement by those agents or their superiors that what they did was wrong; the intensification of the government’s reign of terror in the streets of our cities and towns; the unabashed defense of brutality by the administration in power, and their wholesale lying about it . . . it’s horrifying.
But the less dramatic stories emerging from our reign of terror are also horrifying.
At around 3 p.m. Wednesday, four Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents showed up for lunch at a small, family-owned Mexican restaurant, El Tapatio, in Willmar, Minnesota. They took a booth and apparently enjoyed their meal—though staff at the restaurant appeared “frightened,” according to a witness who spoke to the Minnesota Star-Tribune.
When the restaurant closed that evening at 8:30 p.m., ICE agents followed departing workers and detained three of them.
The agents presumably had a good laugh about this. Perhaps they relished their meal even more because the staff that served them was frightened. Humiliation of their victims, a kind of relish in their fear and misery, a kind of—let’s call it what it is—sadism has become a dominant part of the culture of ICE.

And yes, he supports abolishing ICE. [4]

Do Not Lose Sight of Epstein

A reminder – the Epstein Files Transparency Act was approved by the House on a 427-1 vote, unanimously in the Senate, and signed by the President on November 19, 2025. [5] We are now over 30 days past the legislative deadline for releasing the files – required by this very law.

The Trump administration has not followed the law (again, the very law that he signed…) to release the Epstein Files. Representatives Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie have sent a letter to Judge Paul Engelmeyer in the Southern District of New York [6] to ask that the Court “appoint Special Master and/or Independent Monitor for the purpose of ensuring all the documents and electronically stored information are immediately made public to be in accordance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act.” [7]

Narratives

The book I’m reading or movie I’m watching

Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire by Chris Kempshall

From the Amazon overview [8]:

A history of the dark times

"So this is how liberty dies―with thunderous applause."

-Senator Padmé Amidala

When Palpatine declared the birth of his new Empire, he expected it would stand for millennia. Instead, it lasted only 24 years. This is the story of how a tyrannical regime rose from the ashes of democracy, ruled the galaxy with an iron fist, and then collapsed into dust.

It is a story of war and heroes, of the power of propaganda and the dangers of complacency. But most of all, it is a story of normal people trying to live their lives in the face of a brutal dictatorship.

From the ruthlessness of Darth Vader's campaigns to the horrors of the Tarkin Initiative, this book offers fresh new insights into the dark entity at the core of Star Wars.

GIF Game

Notes and Sources

[1] David Montgomery, “Approval of Donald Trump may have stabilized for now,” YouGov, January 13, 2026, https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/53881-approval-donald-trump-may-have-stabilized-for-now-january-9-12-2026-economist-yougov-poll

[2] “The Economist/YouGov Poll, January 9-12, 2026 – 1602 U.S. Adult Citizens,” https://d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/econTabReport_qsNv5iE.pdf

[3] William Kristol, Andrew Egger, and Jim Swift, “The People Are Turning Against ICE. Will the Politicians Take Notice?” The Bulwark, January 16, 2026, https://www.thebulwark.com/p/the-people-are-turning-against-ice-democrats-senate-trump-minnesota-good-machado-nobel-prize

[4] Bill Kristol [@BillKristol], X, January 17, 2026, https://x.com/BillKristol/status/2012522472063545404

[5] https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/4405/text

[6] Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, “Reps. Khanna and Massie Call for the Appointment of a Special Master to Compel the Department of Justice to Release the Full Epstein Files,” press release, January 8, 2026, https://khanna.house.gov/media/press-releases/reps-khanna-and-massie-call-appointment-special-master-compel-department

[7] Letter from Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie to The Honorable Paul E. Engelmeyer, “Subject: Re:// United States v. Ghislaine Maxwell 20 Cr.330 (PAE),” January 8, 2026, https://khanna.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/khanna.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/khanna-sdny-letter-1-8_0.pdf

[8] Chris Kempshall, Star Wars The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire, DK / Penguin Random House, 2024.

Decisions with Mic Farris

Seek Truth. Honor Differences.

Melting ICE