Abolish ICE
ICE is a rogue agency that must be stopped.
In Congress, I will use the power of the purse to zero out ICE’s funding.
I will work to abolish ICE and replace it with a new, humane immigration & customs enforcement agency.
Why this matters
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a rogue agency that must be stopped. In the short term, its budget should be zeroed out. In the long term, ICE should be replaced with a new agency that will take a thoughtful and humane approach to enforcing immigration and customs laws in our country.
ICE was only formed in 2003 as part of the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. Congress must start over, using its Article I power to zero out ICE's funding and start from scratch. ICE has detained many thousands of innocents, leading to suffering and even death. Innocents have died in custody, and masked ICE agents have killed people in the streets. Recent events in Minneapolis and around the nation have made clear that this agency is out of control. In the face of this, the only rational choice is to abolish ICE.
Rational handling of immigration and border security is within reach of the next Congress. Comprehensive immigration reform has come to the brink of passage before, but failed due to partisanship. National revulsion at the events of 2025 and 2026 can set the stage for a better environment for new legislation.
The misdeeds of ICE also reflect a broader breakdown in the rule of law by the federal government. Over and over, Congress has the power to slow or block illegal actions, ranging from the abolition of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to the sabotage of great institutions like the National Institutes of Health. Relying on good faith and tradition has failed. The system must be remade with a stronger Congress.
We aspire to be a nation in which all are equal under the law. Over and over again, this promise is being broken. Congress must reassert itself as the primary branch of government and use all its powers, including the power of the purse, to stem the tide of authoritarianism and ensure that we are governed as a free people, not ruled by a king.