CNN’s resident data guru Harry Enten reports that Americans are fed up with ICE Barbie.
Enten, the network’s chief data correspondent, said during Monday’s broadcast of CNN News Central that Americans’ faith in Immigration and Customs Enforcement has plummeted under the leadership of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
“I’m not really surprised that President Trump is sending Tom Homan in because ICE, DHS, and Kristi Noem have been a political disaster,” Enten told the program’s co-anchor, Kate Bolduan.
“Just take a look here, ICE’s net approval rating during Trump’s terms,“ he continued. ”You go back to term number one, it was pretty even at zero points. You go to June 2025—that was when all that stuff was going on in Los Angeles—they dropped down—look at this—17 points. Way in the basement.”
“But then, after Minneapolis, it’s even lower: Minus 27 points on the net approval rating of ICE—of course, all this being done under Kristi Noem.”
Enten explained that it’s been a downhill streak for ICE since Noem, nicknamed ICE Barbie for her rotating wardrobe of law enforcement cosplays, took the reins as the face of ICE last year.
Regarding DHS as a whole, Enten said, it’s “just the same exact story.”
“During Trump’s first term, look where it was in late 2017: 59 percent—that’s pretty gosh darn good!“ he said. ”But look at where it is now in Trump’s term number two: By late last year, it was down to 42 percent.“
“So this is the same story we’re seeing no matter which poll question we look at,” Enten added. “The popularity of ICE, of DHS, has completely fallen under the second Trump term, the second Trump administration.”
“All the actions in Minneapolis, in Los Angeles, in these major American cities, have been very much rejected by the American people,” he continued. “It has been a political disaster for the second Trump administration.”
Switching gears to Noem specifically, the data expert noted that her net approval has dipped another five points since July of 2025, when it was already sitting at minus 11 points.
“Every single poll that has been conducted on Kristi Noem’s popularity—every single one—the net approval has been negative,” Enten said. “ICE is negative, DHS is negative.”
“As I said at the top, Kate, this has been an absolute political disaster for the President of the United States,” Enten concluded. “It’s not much of a surprise to me if [Trump] wants to push Noem to the side.”
After federal ICE agents fatally shot a U.S. citizen in Minneapolis on Saturday, the second time this month, calls for Noem’s ousting as head of the DHS have skyrocketed.
Noem first stoked the flames of a political firestorm when she called 37-year-old mother Renee Nicole Good, who was fatally shot at point blank range in her car by ICE agent Jonathan Ross on Jan. 7, a “domestic terrorist” who “weaponized her vehicle” in an attempt to harm federal officers, only hours after the shooting.
Noem employed the same rhetorical strategy on Saturday when 37-year-old VA nurse, Alex Pretti, was shot numerous times by Border Patrol agents after he stepped in to block officers who had shoved a woman down onto the pavement.
In the wake of Saturday’s shooting, even Trump has taken to distancing himself from Noem, refusing to corroborate her claims that officers were justified in shooting Pretti.
The president told The Wall Street Journal on Sunday that the administration is “reviewing everything and will come out with a determination” regarding the shooting.
Trump also effectively sidelined Noem when he announced on Monday that he would send his border czar, Tom Homan, to ease tensions in Minneapolis.
“He has not been involved in that area, but knows and likes many of the people there. Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
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