Like so many Americans, I am sickened by ICE’s killing of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Unlike most Americans, I am part of a small group of leaders with the power to put protestors’ demands into action to stop this madness right now — if only my Republican colleagues would grow some courage and join me in impeaching Kristi Noem and cutting ICE funding.
There is nothing legal, moral, ethical, nor humane with what’s going on in Minnesota. Just a few weeks ago, ICE agents shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good. In the aftermath of this shocking and tragic killing, Americans might have expected Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to halt operations in Minneapolis immediately. Or for Speaker Johnson to call for an investigation into the lethal use of force by ICE agents. Or for President Trump, the leader of the free world, to call for unity and encourage everyone to turn down the temperature.
Instead, this administration made every effort to deny their culpability and justify their own incompetence. Now, immigration agents have shot and killed another American, 37-year-old ICU nurse Alex Pretti.
Enough is enough. We need to stand up and push back. After Governor Walz asked members of Congress and activists not to travel to Minneapolis as it would strain their local police and resources, I took action to rally folks right here at home.
That’s why I organized days of action across our community this week to rally support from over 1,500 people who agree that ICE and Border Patrol need to stand down immediately, all evidence must be preserved in the shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Minnesota needs to take over full control of all law enforcement operations, and ICE and Border Patrol need to get the hell out of Minnesota.
Most important, Congress must act.
Before serving my community in Congress, I served my country with the Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade. I was deployed, fought in combat, and returned home to Northern California wounded.
I was transported for treatment from David Grant Medical Center at Travis Air Force Base to Letterman General Hospital in San Francisco. I traveled by bus with other wounded soldiers. I will never forget looking out the window and seeing hundreds of people at Letterman protesting in the streets and swarming our bus to demand an end to the war and demand that our troops be brought home. It was the tireless protests of them and others across our country that forced our government to act to end the war and put a stop to the bloodshed.
I have always felt my fellow Americans stood up for me and my fellow service members when we needed them most.
What’s happening in Minneapolis is no different.
The American people are standing up to ICE to protect their community at great personal risk. Regular citizens are braving bone-chilling, sub-zero weather and the very real threat that they may be hurt — or worse — in the streets just for exercising their fundamental right to free speech.
They are giving a voice to so many who are being hurt and terrorized by this Administration. It’s Congress’ job to hear their protests and to take action.
I am a co-sponsor of articles of impeachment against Kristi Noem. I voted against the Department of Homeland Security funding bill that just came before Congress. Now, my colleagues on both sides of the aisle must join in the fight to cut ICE’s funding, mandate that agents wear body cameras, prohibit agents from hiding behind masks, require de-escalation training and more stringent hiring standards, and impeach Kristi Noem immediately.
Everybody deserves to be safe in their community. The American people stood up for me when my life was on the line. I will always stand up for my fellow Americans.
Mike Thompson is a U.S. Representative for California’s 4th Congressional District, serving since 1999
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“SOME” of THE AMERICAN PEOPLE DEMAND ACTION ON ICE
Just released Cygnal Poll:
Key findings:
73% say entering the U.S. without legal permission is breaking the law.
Americans support deporting those here illegally by a 2:1 margin (61–34).
54% want ICE enforcing federal immigration laws and removing illegal immigrants.
58% oppose defunding ICE—including majorities of Independents and swing voters.
Defunding ICE is Politically Toxic
When voters are told Democrats want to defund ICE or even shut down the government to stop ICE from enforcing immigration law, the political fallout is immediate and severe:
The generic ballot flips from D+4 to R+0 if Democrats oppose ICE.
If Democrats force a shutdown to defund ICE, Republicans take a 2‑point lead; that’s a 6-point shift away from Democrats over a single issue.
Swing voters shift a staggering 16 points toward Republicans under a shutdown scenario.
The message is unmistakable: Democrats are far on one side of an issue where voters are in strong majorities on the other.
Americans Believe the Border Crisis Is Real…Except for Democrats
Across the electorate, illegal immigration is seen as a serious national problem…except among Democrats, who are the only group claiming it is “not a problem”:
64% of midterm voters say illegal immigration is a problem.
71% of swing voters say it’s a problem.
97% of Republicans and 60% of Independents agree.
https://www.cygn.al/news/national-poll-deportation-ice-overwhelmingly-supported-by-voters-and-democrats-pay-a-political-price-on-the-issue-especially-over-a-shutdown-pr/
Keep reading your right wing programming all the way to November. Here is another poll for you. Texas Dem wins special State Senate election by 13 points in a district that Trump won by 17 points.
According to an A.I. overview:
“Cygnal is widely considered a highly accurate private polling firm, often ranked among the best for political polling, known for pioneering methods like multi-mode polling and predictive analytics, helping clients gain an edge through precise voter intelligence and anticipating shifts in public opinion.
Key reasons for Cygnal’s accuracy:
Award-Winning: Recognized for accuracy in public opinion and predictive analytics.
Innovative Methods: They use advanced techniques like text-to-web collection and emotive analysis.
Actionable Intelligence: They focus on providing deep voter insights, not just numbers, to give campaigns a strategic advantage.
Proven Track Record: Their team has extensive experience across numerous campaigns, contributing to their reliable data.”
“According to an A.I. overview:”
So, maybe accurate, high likelihood of inaccuracies. No sources provided. Unverified, clearly pulling information directly from the company’s promotional material. You might as well just post one of their brochures.
But now you can say “A.I. overview” as if that gives it some imprimatur of validity.
Posting a.i. without verification just makes you look stupid.
“Posting a.i. without verification just makes you look stupid.”
Well then there are a lot of commenters posting on the Vanguard who look stupid, according to you anyway, because I see a lot of A.I. getting posted without verification. At least I state that I’m using A.I. when I use it where many others don’t.
Here are a couple more actual recent poll results. No artificial flavor added:
Spanberger 57
Sears 43
New Jersey
Sherill 58
Clatterelli 42
“At least I state that I’m using A.I. when I use it where many others don’t.”
Well, just don’t insinuate that an award-winning journalist/author is using A.I.
It won’t even matter in about . . . three years ago.
“After federal immigration agents on Saturday shot and killed a Minneapolis resident for the second time this month, more Americans now say they would support abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) than say they would oppose eliminating the agency. A majority of Americans say ICE’s tactics are too forceful and about half say they strongly disapprove of the way the agency is handling its job, according to a YouGov Poll conducted hours after the shooting. More Americans approve than disapprove of protests against ICE. Because the poll was conducted so soon after the shooting in Minneapolis, some respondents who were not aware of the news when they answered the questions might hear about it in subsequent days.
These latest results show an increase in opposition to ICE compared to two YouGov polls fielded earlier in January after the killing of Good. At that point, support for abolishing ICE was already at the highest level ever observed in YouGov polls.
Opposition to ICE has grown in January
More Americans support than oppose abolishing ICE (46% vs. 41%). This marks a slight increase from earlier this month, when three YouGov polls found that the share of Americans who supported eliminating ICE as a federal agency was roughly equal to the share who opposed it: 46% to 43% in one poll, 42% vs. 45% in another, and 45% vs. 45% in a third.
Democrats overwhelmingly support eliminating ICE (76% vs. 15%), as do nearly half of Independents (47% vs. 35%). Most Republicans (73%) continue to oppose abolishing ICE. Only 19% of Republicans support eliminating the agency, but that’s a higher level than in any of the polls from earlier this month.”
https://today.yougov.com/politics/articles/53939-more-americans-support-than-oppose-abolishing-ice-immigration-minneapolis-shooting-poll
AI Overview
YouGov polls, like many, can be inaccurate due to reliance on online opt-in panels, which are susceptible to sampling biases, “bogus respondents,” and difficulty in reaching representative samples. Despite using MRP (Multilevel Regression and Post-stratification) modeling to improve accuracy, historical misses (e.g., 2015 UK election, 2016 US) and potential for skewed data highlight limitations.
Online Opt-in Bias: YouGov relies on large, voluntary online panels, which can lead to skewed results compared to random probability sampling, as noted by Pew Research Center.
Methodological Challenges: The accuracy of YouGov’s findings is highly dependent on effective weighting to make the sample representative, which may fail if certain demographics are underrepresented, says The Conversation.
Survey Fraud: Undark Magazine indicates that opt-in polls can be plagued by participants who respond disingenuously for rewards.
Past Performance: YouGov misjudged the 2015 UK election and faced criticism for accuracy in the 2016 US election, though they often argue their methods are solid, notes The Guardian and YouGov.
Transparency: The Week in Polls points out that while YouGov is transparent, their polls can be misinterpreted or based on less-than-optimal questions.