Liberal Pollsters Don't Ask if Anti-ICE Activists Have Gone Too Far!

Tim Graham on Feb 6, 2026

The unrest in Minneapolis has died down, and the Trump administration is pulling 700 immigration-enforcement offers out of the area. But all of the national media scrutiny has obsessed over Team Trump. They have rarely acted to "hold government accountable" when the governing comes from Democrats, Gov. Tim Walz or Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.

NPR was eagerly touting their new NPR/PBS Marist Poll to underline the effectiveness of their advocacy: 65% of Americans, up from 54% in June of 2025, think the actions of ICE have "gone too far" in enforcing immigration laws, and 62% say the actions of ICE are making Americans "somewhat less safe, or much less safe."

The New Republic underlined what NPR and PBS were cooking: "Brutal New Poll Wrecks Trump's Main Claim on ICE."

Now ask yourself this question. Did PBS and NPR ever ask the public for their evaluation of ICE under Biden, when there was a mass importation of illegal aliens? Pollsters may have asked about their approval of Biden on the immigration issue. But this polling is specific and suggestive, intended to punish ICE deportation efforts.

Pollsters don't ask if the actions of ICE protesters have "gone too far." The media have soft-pedaled violent extremists in the streets, who are painted as passionate heroes, just as Black Lives Matters were boosted for their "racial reckoning" in the George Floyd riots of 2020. James Freeman at The Wall Street Journal asked the rhetorical question: "Who Watches the 'ICE Watchers'?"

National media outlets have implied that these protesters -- including Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were shot by federal agents as they interfered and threatened law-enforcement activities -- were somehow not radical activists, when their tactics were clearly radical.

Freeman drew attention to a Christina Buttons article for City Journal about how leftists were training in Minneapolis to wreck ICE activities and protect illegal aliens, who they describe as "vulnerable community members."

Buttons entered into the training programs of "Defend the 612" (the Minneapolis area code): "Our reporting reveals that members and related officials have encouraged protesters to impede law enforcement; pushed civilians toward legally and physically risky confrontations; and helped mobilize a counterprotest that turned violent."

Good's death represented a beautiful recruiting opportunity: "The evening Good died, Defend the 612 held an 'emergency vigil,' during which flyers were distributed directing attendees to join the group. At Defend the 612's training session the following day, (organizer Andrew) Fahlstrom reported about 1,000 new signups."

These leftists were very focused on getting the "mainstream" media to reinforce their interference with ICE: "Members characterized their media work as 'propaganda' and insisted on the need to 'maintain control of your narratives.' To that end, participants discussed the need to condition their speech to journalists on retaining editorial control over how stories are written."

Buttons noted that Fahlstrom's "ICE Watch" activist orientation on Jan. 8 featured Jill Garvey, founder of a radical-left group called "States at the Core," which were active in resisting ICE in Chicago last year.

Here's where National "Public" Radio re-enters the picture to help the Left "maintain control of their narratives." Last November, so-called "domestic extremism correspondent" Odette Yousef gushed over Garvey and did a "ride along" with the domestic extremists engaged in ICE-busting activities in Chicago.

In the elitist media's groupthink, the left-wing extremists never go too far, no matter how violent or destructive their tactics. Their goal isn't keeping the streets safe. Their goal is destroying Trump and the Republicans. Any extreme tactic that hurts those people in the polls serves an important "progressive" purpose.

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Tim Graham is director of media analysis at the Media Research Center and executive editor of the blog NewsBusters.org. To find out more about Tim Graham and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.