The push to abolish ICE is picking up steam among Democrats

DCNFPeter Hasson, DCNF

A push to abolish America’s immigration enforcement agency has rapidly picked up steam and has moved from the far-left fringes to Democratic members of Congress.

Image: WikiMedia

Four House Democrats — and three in the last three days — have stated their support for abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which is in charge of enforcing the nation’s immigration laws.

Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan on Monday announced legislation to abolish the federal agency. “Unfortunately, President Trump and his team of white nationalists, including Stephen Miller, have so misused ICE that the agency can no longer accomplish its goals effectively,” Pocan claimed.

(He did not mention that a majority of U.S. Border Patrol agents are Hispanic.)

Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern on Saturday claimed that it was “time to get rid of ICE.” McGovern claimed that the nation’s immigration enforcement agency has “turned into something that is not about immigration law, it is turning into something that is dedicated to ripping families apart.”

Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer echoed that call in an article on Sunday titled “It’s time we abolish ICE.”

“We should abolish ICE and start over, focusing on our priorities to protect our families and our borders in a humane and thoughtful fashion,” Blumemnauer wrote. “Now is the time for immigration reform that ensures people are treated with compassion and respect. Not only because it is the moral thing to do, but it’s better policy and will cost less.

Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal was the first Democrat to call for abolishing the agency on June 19. “I would love to see ICE go,” she told left-wing website Democracy Now.

Nineteen Democratic congressional candidates have also expressed their support for abolishing ICE, according to a list maintained by Sean McElwee, a writer for left-wing website The Nation.

That includes Deb Haaland — considered the frontrunner in New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional district — and Minnesota state Rep. Ilhan Omar, who is the frontrunner to replace outgoing Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison.

McElwee and other left-wing writers and activists have been pressuring Democratic politicians for months to support abolishing ICE.

The hard left’s opposition to ICE has pushed beyond political opposition to outright demonization of federal law enforcement agents.

New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon, a progressive actress mounting a primary challenge to incumbent Gov. New York Andrew Cuomo, claimed on June 21 that ICE employees are members of a “terrorist organization” headed by President Trump.

A left-wing New York University professor recently created and published a database of over 1,500 ICE employees’ personal information.

Members of Antifa, a far-left anarchist movement that DHS has labeled “domestic terrorists,” further circulated the list of ICE employees, accusing them of being “Nazis.”

Follow Hasson on Twitter @PeterJHasson

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