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Year: 2026

Republicans in lock-step behind Trump immigration crackdown as independent support shrinks, poll finds

Republicans in lock-step behind Trump immigration crackdown as independent support shrinks, poll finds

Republicans remain firmly behind President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown even as support among independents declines and more Americans say he has “gone too far,” according to a new poll. The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research released the findings on Thursday, showing that roughly half of Republicans say Trump’s actions are “about right,” and another quarter believe he hasn’t gone far enough. The survey found that about 6 in 10 U.S. adults believe Trump has crossed the line in sending federal immigration agents into American cities, including nearly 9 in 10 Democrats and about 7 in 10 independents. Only about one-quarter of Republicans agree. The poll was conducted before Trump’s border czar Tom Homan announced Thursday that a federal immigration surge in Minnesota would conclude. Federal authorities have previously said the immigration sweeps focused on the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area have led to the arrest of more than 4,000 people. LEAVITT SAYS TRUMP WILL NOT ‘WAVER’ ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN DESPITE DEMOCRATIC BACKLASH Trump’s overall approval on immigration stands at 38%, largely unchanged since January despite weeks of unrest tied to federal enforcement operations, including high-profile clashes in Minneapolis. Trump’s standing with independents, however, appears to be eroding, according to the poll. Approval among independents dropped from 37% in March 2025 to 23% in the new poll, with about 6 in 10 independents now saying Trump has gone too far in deporting immigrants living in the U.S. illegally — up from 46% in April. MORE THAN HALF OF VOTERS THINK DHS SECRETARY KRISTI NOEM SHOULD BE REMOVED: POLL The partisan divide is especially sharp when it comes to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Only about 3 in 10 U.S. adults have a favorable view of ICE overall. Roughly 7 in 10 Republicans view the agency favorably, compared to just 2 in 10 independents and 1 in 10 Democrats. The poll also suggests the GOP’s long-held advantage on immigration may be narrowing. In October, Republicans held a 13-point edge over Democrats on which party Americans trusted more to handle immigration. In the latest survey, that gap has shrunk to just 4 points, with about 3 in 10 Americans favoring each party and another 3 in 10 saying neither would do a better job. Trump’s overall job approval stands at 36%, slightly down from the start of his second term. His ratings on the economy and foreign policy remain similar and largely unchanged in recent months. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

DOJ solicits examples of ‘judicial activism’ from prosecutors as it weighs impeachment referrals

DOJ solicits examples of ‘judicial activism’ from prosecutors as it weighs impeachment referrals

A Department of Justice official raised the possibility of referring federal judges to Congress for impeachment in what would be a dramatic escalation of the administration’s fight with judges it views as activist and obstructionist. The idea was floated by a senior DOJ official during a recent virtual meeting with U.S. attorneys across the country, a source familiar with the meeting told Fox News Digital. It marked a new possible avenue for the executive branch to confront the judiciary — by turning to Congress, which has sole authority over impeachment, to take the rare step of voting to oust federal judges. The meeting, led by Associate Deputy Attorney General Aakash Singh, was routine, but impeachment had not been raised in one before, the source said. Singh broached it after the DOJ received numerous complaints from the U.S. attorneys’ offices about judges, the source said. Bloomberg Law first reported on the meeting. HOUSE REPUBLICANS REVIVE PUSH TO IMPEACH ‘ACTIVIST’ JUDGES AFTER JOHNSON’S GREEN LIGHT Singh asked the U.S. attorneys to compile examples of issues they have had with judges, which the DOJ could then use to determine if referring judges for impeachment was appropriate.  A DOJ spokesperson confirmed the move in a statement to Fox News Digital, saying the Trump administration is “facing unprecedented judicial activism from rogue judges who care more about making a name for themselves than acting as impartial arbiters of the law.” “The Department of Justice solicited the most egregious examples of this obstruction from our U.S. Attorney Offices to assist Congress with efforts to rein in judges violating their oaths in accordance with their constitutional oversight authority of the judicial branch,” the spokesperson said. Any referral would be sent to the House, which must then vote on impeachment. Doing so would be extraordinarily rare as the House has only ever impeached 15 judges, typically for crimes like corruption and bribery. This year, Congress has weighed impeaching at least two federal judges, James Boasberg and Deborah Boardman. Boasberg, an Obama appointee, has made a handful of adverse rulings against the Trump administration in high-profile immigration cases, while Boardman deviated heavily downward in her eight-year sentence for Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s attempted assassin. Numerous Republicans have called for their impeachment, but the House has not moved to initiate the proceedings. APPEALS COURT DISMISSES DOJ MISCONDUCT COMPLAINT AGAINST FEDERAL JUDGE As a recourse against adverse rulings, the DOJ has publicly decried judges’ decisions or appealed them, the latter of which requires layers of internal approvals. Calling on the House, narrowly led by Republicans, to impeach judges would be a new approach. Two-thirds of the Senate would then need to vote to convict the judges, which would strip them of their lifetime appointments. The DOJ has been managing hundreds of lawsuits, a large fraction of which deal with the administration’s aggressive crackdown on immigration and controversial deportation tactics. Adverse rulings and reprimands from lower court judges have been frequent. Prosecutors, for instance, charged Juan Espinoza Martinez with engaging in a murder-for-hire plot against U.S. Border Patrol official Greg Bovino. However, Espinoza Martinez was acquitted in January after a Clinton-appointed federal judge in Chicago rejected the DOJ’s requests to inform the jury that Martinez allegedly belonged to the Latin Kings gang, contending that the department did not have enough evidence to raise that claim in court. The DOJ spokesperson further outlined the department’s frustrations, telling Fox News Digital that district court and magistrate judges have refused to sign criminal complaints or search warrants when clear probable cause exists, made bad rulings about evidence and jury instructions, granted emergency restraining orders against the government without giving the DOJ a reasonable time to respond and “erroneously” involved themselves in the U.S. attorney nominations process. Fox News Digital reached out to the House Judiciary Committee, which would vet any judicial impeachments, about how it would handle the possible referrals.