“Abolish ICE” is becoming more than just a protest cry
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Some Democratic lawmakers are starting to pay attention, too.
Hundreds of women protested against family separation and detention on Thursday in Washington, DC. They were also calling for the abolishment of ICE.
Calls to “abolish ICE” have been building in recent weeks, as the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” border policies have pushed the platform into the mainstream among some Democrats.
ICE is shorthand for US Immigration Customs and Enforcement, and many activists on the left see the agency as emboldened and out-of-control under Trump. (It’s also separate from US Customs and Border Protection, which acts as the border patrol; ICE acts as an interior patrol.)
Just this week Rep. Mark Pocan (R-WI) announced he was introducing a House bill to dismantle ICE in favor of a more “humane” border enforcement. In New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — who upset Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY) in the 14th District’s congressional primary — has called for the abolishment of ICE, and she’ll almost certainly be elected to Congress in the fall.
But not all Democrats are ready to join the call. CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Bernie Sanders (I-VT) this week about abolishing ICE. The senator refused to answer the question, saying we need to “create policies that deal with immigration in a rational way” — and swiftly got blowback from his supporters.
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