ICE tactics spark debate before pivotal US midterm elections

Key points

• A September Fox News poll found 53 percent of registered voters say the immigration crackdown has gone too far.
• ICE reported more than 50,000 immigration arrests in two straight months, beating June's 43,900 record.
• Trump's approval among Hispanic supporters fell from 93 percent in early 2025 to 57 percent last week.

President Donald Trump's aggressive immigration enforcement has divided public opinion ahead of the US midterm elections on November 3, according to a Fox News poll released in the lead-up to the vote. The September poll found 53 percent of registered voters believed the crackdown had gone too far, with 60 percent of independent voters agreeing.

The survey also found two-thirds of Hispanic participants said the campaign had overreached. Experts say the US immigration debate has shifted since 2024, when the focus was largely on border security, to how enforcement operations are carried out.

A Houston arrest and its fallout

Cynthia Penaloza told Al Jazeera correspondent Phil Lavelle that her 23-year-old sister, Joceline Penaloza Magana, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Houston, Texas, during a traffic stop in August and remains in custody. The family says Joceline, brought to the US at about age five, was an honour roll student with no criminal record, and Cynthia rejects Trump's claim that enforcement targets the worst of the worst.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees immigration enforcement, said earlier this year that Trump's policies had unleashed ICE to target the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens. ICE announced in September that it had recorded two consecutive months with more than 50,000 immigration arrests, beating a June record of 43,900 detentions.

We're always afraid. We're uncertain of what's going to happen, if she's going to be sent back to Mexico, if we're ever going to be together again or how this is going to change our lives forever

— Cynthia Penaloza

Disputed detention figures

Homeland Security has argued that about 70 percent of immigration detainees are criminals when pending charges are counted. Critics question that figure, noting that US law presumes suspects innocent until proven guilty, and that many could be acquitted or have charges dropped, including for non-violent offences. The Deportation Data Project, which analyses government data sets, found about 70 percent of those in ICE detention have no criminal record.

White House border czar Tom Homan said in a July interview that more arrests and deportations were needed. Republicans are defending majorities in both chambers of Congress and in state and local races. Trump won nearly 48 percent support among Latinos in 2024, up 12 points from 2020, but Pew Research Center data show his approval among Hispanic supporters fell from 93 percent at the start of 2025 to 57 percent last week. Some Republicans, including Florida Congress member Maria Elvira Salazar, have openly criticised his hardline policies, while Texas Republican Jeremy Price blamed previous presidencies for the conflict. Democrats hope to turn the outrage into votes; Richard Gonzales, chair of the Hidalgo County Democratic Party in Texas, said he would hope they would abolish ICE.