Abolish ICE is a political movement that seeks the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). [1] The movement gained mainstream traction in June 2018 following controversy of the Trump administration family separation policy. The movement proposes that ICE's responsibilities be subsumed by other existing immigration agencies, as was the case before its creation. Discussions are particularly focused on the enforcement wing of ICE.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement was created in 2003, as part of the newly formed U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The agency's young age has been a point of discussion, with proponents of Abolish ICE arguing that the United States can easily do without an agency that has only existed for less than twenty years. [2] [3] Though the agency controversially expanded under Barack Obama, frustrating advocates for immigrants' rights, [4] its stated focus remained the deportation of those undocumented immigrants who were convicted of a crime. [5] In practice, however, ICE had been seen to target individuals solely on the crime of having previously entering the country illegally. [6] In 2014, the National Immigration Law Center (NILC) filed a lawsuit against ICE and DHS under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). [7] The NILC obtained documents that revealed the sharing of information between ICE/DHS and State Motor Vehicle Departments for the purpose of immigration enforcement. [8] After Trump took office in January 2017, his administration began to implement harsher immigration policies, such as denying asylum to refugees[ citation needed ] and separating undocumented children from their families, which spurred the growth of the movement. [9] Sean McElwee, co-founder of left-wing think tank Data for Progress, is credited with popularizing the slogan via the hashtag #AbolishICE. [4] [10]
In August 2017, a series of protests over the agency took place in Oakland, California. However, a group of Oakland police escorted ICE and DHS agents to the site of a search, sparking controversy and protests over the sanctuary policy breach. ICE later stated that the agency was serving a federal search warrant for suspected child trafficking, and was not conducting a deportation. [11] Conservatives criticized the protesters for interfering with the investigation. [12]
Controversy over the Trump administration family separation policy in 2018 brought the movement into the mainstream of political discussion. Dan Canon, a Democratic candidate for congress in Indiana, was the first candidate to call for ICE to be eliminated; [13] Randy Bryce, a Democratic congressional candidate in Wisconsin, followed soon after in April. [4] Bryce's opponent, Paul Ryan, who was then the Speaker of the House of Representatives, said that abolishing ICE was "the craziest position I have ever seen". [14] On June 20, at the height of the family separation controversy, protestors approached Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen at a restaurant, chanting "Abolish ICE". [15]
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a democratic socialist and Democratic primary challenger to Representative Joseph Crowley, made abolishing ICE one of her top campaign issues. [16] In the wake of her unexpected victory on June 26, the position became more widely accepted by progressive politicians, including Massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. [17] [18] The change was particularly strong in Ocasio-Cortez's state of New York, where Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and New York City mayor Bill de Blasio quickly embraced the abolition of ICE after the win. [19]
On June 25, Wisconsin congressman Mark Pocan announced that he would introduce legislation to dismantle ICE and establish a commission to determine how the government "can implement a humane immigration enforcement system", [20] after visiting the Mexico–United States border and witnessing "the nation's immigration crisis". [21] Pocan was joined by Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Adriano Espaillat of New York in introducing the bill, the Establishing a Humane Immigration Enforcement System Act, on July 12. [14]
Nineteen ICE agents wrote a letter to Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen asking for the ICE to be split into two separate agencies because they believe the institution inhibits their ability to do their job properly. [22] Their proposal would separate the enforcement and removal unit, which is the subject of almost all of the controversy, from the investigations unit that focuses on issues such as fraud, human trafficking, gangs, and drug rings. They believe that sanctuary jurisdictions would be more likely to work with the investigative unit if it were separate. [23]
Several protests, rallies, and marches—including Occupy ICE, Families Belong Together, and Women Disobey—called for the abolition of ICE and decarceration of undocumented immigrants. [24] These rallies took place over several months in over 700 cities in the United States and around the world. [25] [26]
Trump has accused Democrats of advocating for the abolition of ICE, saying that if "you get rid of ICE, you're going to have a country that you're going to be afraid to walk out of your house". He predicted that Democrats would get "beaten so badly" in the 2018 midterm elections because of the issue (the Democrats gained control of the House, but the Republicans expanded their majority in the Senate in the elections). [27] [28] Then Vice-President Mike Pence visited ICE's headquarters in the wake of the controversy, calling ICE and Border Patrol agents "heroes". [29]
Most Democratic politicians, such as Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and Vice-President Kamala Harris of California, believe that ICE should be reformed rather than abolished. [30] [31] [32] Harris stated that Democrats should "critically re-examine ICE" and "think about starting from scratch" with American immigration policy, while Senator Bernie Sanders stated that Democrats should instead encourage Trump to work with them on "a national program which deals with this serious issue." [33]
National polling by Pew Research Center in July 2018 found that ICE was one of the least popular government agencies among Americans. The same poll found that public support of the agency was sharply partisan: 72% of Democrats hold unfavorable view of the agency, while 72% of Republicans were found to have a "favorable opinion" of the agency. [34]
National polling by POLITICO/Morning Consult in July 2018 found that 25% of Americans favored abolishing ICE, while a majority supported keeping it. [35] In August 2018, national polling by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 37% of Americans hold an unfavorable opinion of ICE. [36] The same poll found that 24% of Americans support abolishing ICE.
Commentators have noted that U.S. Customs and Border Protection, not ICE, is responsible for border enforcement, so abolishing ICE alone would not end the ability of the United States to enforce its immigration laws, nor would it necessarily end the controversial practice of family separation that spurred support for the movement. [37]
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terrorism, border security, immigration and customs, cyber security, and disaster prevention and management.
The United States Secretary of Homeland Security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the federal department tasked with ensuring public safety in the United States. The secretary is a member of the Cabinet of the United States. The position was created by the Homeland Security Act following the attacks of September 11, 2001.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ICE's stated mission is to protect the United States from the cross-border crime and illegal immigration that threaten national security and public safety.
United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilitating international trade, collecting import duties, as well as enforcing U.S. regulations, including trade, customs and immigration. CBP is one of the largest law enforcement agencies in the United States. It has a workforce of more than 45,600 federal agents and officers. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C.
Mark A. Morgan is an American law enforcement official who served as the Chief Operating Officer and acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection from July 5, 2019, to January 20, 2021.
Kirsten Gillibrand is the junior United States senator from New York and a member of the Democratic Party. Formerly a member of the United States House of Representatives from the generally conservative 20th congressional district, she was appointed to the Senate in 2009, representing a generally liberal state.
Chad Fredrick Wolf is a former lobbyist and former American government official who was named the acting United States secretary of homeland security in November 2019. His appointment was ruled unlawful in November 2020. Wolf was also the under secretary of homeland security for strategy, policy, and plans from 2019 to 2021.
In United States immigration enforcement, "catch and release" refers to a practice of releasing a migrant to the community while he or she awaits hearings in immigration court, as an alternative to holding them in immigration detention. The migrants whom U.S. immigration enforcement agencies have allowed to remain in the community pending immigrant hearings have been those deemed low risk, such as children, families, and those seeking asylum.
Ronald Donato Vitiello is an American government official and former U.S. Border patrol agent who served as deputy director and acting director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from June 30, 2018 to April 12, 2019. He previously served as acting deputy commissioner of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection from 2017 to 2018 and chief of the United States Border Patrol in 2017.
Kevin Kealoha McAleenan is an American attorney and government official who unlawfully served as the acting United States secretary of homeland security from April to November 2019.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also known by her initials AOC, is an American politician and activist. She has served as the U.S. representative for New York's 14th congressional district since 2019, as a member of the Democratic Party.
Kirstjen Michele Nielsen is an American attorney who served as United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2017 to 2019. She is a former principal White House deputy chief of staff to President Donald Trump, and was chief of staff to John F. Kelly during his tenure as Secretary of Homeland Security.
The United States family separation policy under the Trump administration was presented to the public as a "zero tolerance" approach intended to deter illegal immigration and to encourage tougher legislation. In some cases, families following the legal procedure to apply for asylum at official border crossings were also separated. It was officially adopted across the entire US–Mexico border from April 2018 until June 2018. Under the policy, federal authorities separated children and infants from parents or guardians with whom they had entered the US. The adults were prosecuted and held in federal jails or deported, and the children were placed under the supervision of the US Department of Health and Human Services. More than 5,500 children, including infants, were removed and hundreds have still not been reunited as of August 2022.
Protests against the Trump administration family separation policy are a reaction to the Trump administration policy of separating children from their parents or guardians who crossed the U.S. border either illegally or to request asylum, jailing the adults and locating the minors at separate facilities under the care of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Occupy ICE is a series of protests, modeled on the Occupy Movement, that emerged in the United States in reaction to the Trump administration family separation policy, with a goal of disrupting operations at several U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) locations.
Women Disobey was a protest in Washington, D.C., on June 28, 2018. The protests against the Trump administration family separation policy were organized by Women's March. They took place in the streets around the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building and inside the Hart Senate Office Building. Following acts of mass civil disobedience, 575 people were arrested.
The Trump administration has detained migrants attempting to enter the United States at the United States–Mexico border. Government reports from the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General in May 2019 and July 2019 found that migrants had been detained under conditions that failed federal standards. These conditions have included prolonged detention, overcrowding, and poor hygiene and food standards.
In June 2020, the Trump administration began deploying federal law enforcement forces to select cities in the United States in response to rioting and monument removals amid the George Floyd protests. Federal law enforcement elements were deployed under Operation Legend, Operation Diligent Valor, and the Protecting American Communities Task Force (PACT). The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) cited an executive order regarding "monuments, memorials and statues" as allowing federal officers to be deployed without the permission of individual U.S. states, as the federal government "has the right to enforce federal laws, investigate crimes and make arrests" within states.
Joe Biden's immigration policy is primarily based on reversing many of the immigration policies of the previous Trump administration. During his first day in office, Biden reversed many of Trump's policies on immigration, such as halting the construction of the Mexican border wall, ending Trump's travel ban restricting travel from 14 countries, and an executive order to reaffirm protections for DACA recipients. The Biden administration and Department of Homeland Security, under leadership of Alejandro Mayorkas, dramatically reined in deportation practices of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), prioritizing national security and violent crime concerns over petty and nonviolent offenses. However, Biden has also faced criticism for extending Title 42, a Trump administration border restriction that arose due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as restarting the use of expediting families in Central America, which can cause families to be sent back in weeks, compared to years for an average immigration case. In the fiscal year 2021, the US Border Patrol confirmed more than 1.6 million encounters with migrants along the US-Mexico border, more than quadruple the number in the previous fiscal year and the largest annual total on record. In January 2023, Biden announced a program to strengthen the admission of immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, while at the same time his administration will crack down on those who fail to use the plan's legal pathway and strengthen border security. In May 2023, the Biden Administration approved sending 1,500 more troops to the U.S.-Mexico border following Title 42's expiration.
The Director of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a civilian official in the United States Department of Homeland Security. During July 2010 the position's title was changed from Assistant Secretary for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement.