ICE Sets Records as GOP Face New Polling Trouble | 7/24/26 FIRST LOOK

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0:33Hey everybody, I'm Dave Rubin and this is First Look. It's Friday, July 24th, 2026. We've got a packed show for you today. Ice arrests hit record clip for Trump's second term as the agency leans hard into deportation maxing. New polling results flash big warning signs for Republicans heading into the midterms. ESPN lays off legendary broadcaster Carl Ravitch and leaves fans furious. Let's get into it. ICE's deportation maxing push hits record arrest numbers. During the month of June, ICE detention soared to a record high since President Trump returned to the Oval Office in January 2025. New Homeland Security Department data shows the agency made 43 ,000 arrests an average of 1 ,438 per day.

1:31That is the largest monthly total since Trump began aggressively cleaning up the border, an immigration crisis that festered for four years under the Biden administration. CBS News confirmed the numbers and noted that the Trump administration has explicitly instructed ICE to ramp up arrests. Early July data is even stronger. Through the first 11 days of the month, ICE averaged 1 ,593 arrests per day. Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen has set a clear goal, double the number of deportations from last year. In 2025, DHS deported 675 ,000 illegal immigrants, while another 2.2 million self-deported.

2:18To hit Mullen's target, the department needs to remove roughly 1.3 million by year's end, and that process starts with ICE making the arrests. Border czar Tom Homan was blunt about where things stand. On News Nation, he said ICE is now hitting on all cylinders and is firmly in its deportation maxing phase now that the department is fully funded again after the partial government shutdown. But even with these record numbers, agents are still falling short of daily targets, and Homan made clear why. Even though ICE is hitting record numbers, they're doing that despite the factors of over 100 nationwide injunctions followed by radical judges that affect our arrests, our detentions, and our removals, Homan said.

3:10He pointed out that the open border advocates, who have plenty of money, are suing the Trump administration every single day. There are more nationwide injunctions against us right now that slow us down, over 100. That's more than every other president in the history of the nation combined. It amounts to lawfare, the same playbook the left used trying to derail Trump's 2024 campaign. Despite the judicial roadblocks, he says ICE is on pace to set yet another arrest record in July. This is exactly the kind of aggressive enforcement America voted for, and the radical judges and open-border activists are doing everything they can to stop it.

3:58New polls flash warning signs for Republicans in the midterms. New surveys released this week measuring how Americans say they will vote in November are packed with warnings and pitfalls for Republicans, especially the fight to keep control of the House of Representatives. The most significant data comes from a Fox News poll of American voters conducted July 17th to 20th. 53 % said they would vote for the Democrat running in their House district if the election were held today. Only 46 % said they would vote Republican. That seven-point Democratic advantage is the widest Fox has recorded since Democrats held an eight-point edge in July 2018.

4:41The margin has widened by a point since Fox's April survey. Particularly concerning for the GOP is how voters now rate the parties on the economy. A year ago, Republicans held a one-point advantage. Today, Democrats enjoy a nine-point lead, a full 10-point swing in just 12 months, with only a little more than three months until Election Day. Immigration, one of the Trump administration's signature priorities, has also shifted. As recently as April, Republicans held an eight-point advantage on the issue. Now they trail Democrats by one point. On foreign policy, the GOP trails by seven points. Democrats lead on seven of the nine issues Fox tested.

5:27Republicans still hold a seven-point edge on crime and a slim two-point lead on national security. Fox News political analysts say voters want major change amid economic and political discontent. An Emerson College national poll showed an even wider gap. Democrats hold an 11.4-point advantage on the generic House ballot, up a full eight points since Emerson's November 2025 survey. The House picture looks bleak, but Fox analysts give Republicans a more realistic shot at holding the Senate. They currently rate the chamber a toss-up, with each side projected to win 48 seats. The outcome will likely come down to four swing states, Alaska, Iowa, Maine, and Ohio, that are too close to call at this stage.

6:19These numbers should be a wake-up call. The Trump administration is delivering on the border and crime, but economic discontent is clearly registering with voters. Republicans cannot afford to sleepwalk into November. ESPN just fired legendary baseball voice Carl Ravitch, and fans are furious. What a week at ESPN. The network looks different today if you haven't been paying attention. The worldwide leader in sports laid off dozens of employees this week, beginning with Monday's on-air mess involving Ryan Clark. Clark was let go, along with Cam Newton and Tom Pelissero, among others. Clark was the biggest name because he was the biggest gaslighter on the air.

7:01Newton had become a fixture on first take. Pellicero was well-respected, though more a casualty of the NFL Network merger. But the real stunner? ESPN cutting ties with longtime baseball voice Carl Ravitch. That one shocked the internet. Ravitch spent 33 years at the Network. He was the voice of Sunday Night Baseball, the voice of Baseball Tonight, the voice of the College World Series, and the voice of the Little League World Series, which starts next month. Gone in a flash. No indication he was leaving. No farewell. Nothing. Fans unloaded on social media. One wrote, no indication that he was leaving.

7:41No farewell. Nothing. The most low class way to treat someone I've ever seen. ESPN should be embarrassed. Another asked the obvious. Imagine taking an honest look at ESPN's massive ratings decline and ad revenue losses over the past decade, trying to figure out exactly who and what is responsible for it, and then coming to the conclusion that the best way to fix it would be to fire Carl Ravitch. His longtime colleague, Buster Only, said the 61-year-old broadcaster had no idea the dismissal was coming. My heart goes out to him, and I just have loved working with Carl at ESPN. Ravitch joined ESPN in May 1993.

8:23He was a longtime MLB studio host, including on Baseball Tonight. He became their lead MLB play-by-play voice in 2022 and had called the Home Run Derby before Netflix took the rights this year. He was on the call for the Phillies-Dodgers game Monday night. The next day, he was gone. That is how ESPN treats one of the most respected non-political voices in baseball. Classic. And that's your first look this Friday. Quick recap, ICE is hitting record arrests and leaning into deportation maxing despite radical judges and lawfare. New polls are flashing real danger for Republicans in the midterms, especially the House.

9:07And ESPN just low-classed one of baseball's best broadcasters out the door. We'll keep following all of it. I'm Dave Rubin. Thanks for starting your day with First Look. See you on Monday.

9:23Thank you.