Democrats: Don’t Fall Into The Abolish ICE Trap… Again

We must meet both the moment, and voters.

In Minneapolis and other major cities, President Trump gave immigration enforcement agents free rein. Blatant abuses of the Constitution followed, with deadly consequences. The images are visceral; Americans are disgusted. Accountability is needed.

But Republicans in Congress refuse to help instill that needed accountability–instead, on Friday, they shut down the Department of Homeland Security, cutting off critical funds for the Coast Guard, Transportation Security Administration, and other agencies that keep us safe.

This is not a new playbook.

In 2018, President Trump similarly declared war on immigrant communities and empowered agents to use unconstitutional tactics in carrying out his agenda. The country wanted accountability and change, but Republicans refused, instead choosing to shut down the government. Leading voices called to “Abolish ICE”–the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency responsible for carrying out our immigration laws–and Democrats were pressured to get on board, as some of the party’s base grew more and more energized in advance of the midterm elections.

For Democrats, this latest shutdown offers an opportunity–but it comes with a flashing yellow warning light. Democratic calls to abolish ICE in 2018 gave Donald Trump a powerful political cudgel, one he and the GOP would later use to paint Vice President Kamala Harris and down-ballot Democrats as being for open borders and against law enforcement, community safety, and national security, to devastating effect. Now, in this emotional moment, Democrats should resist the impulse to again align themselves with slogans that temporarily meet the passion many in the party are feeling, but will alienate voters come election day.

Words matter–not just what we say, but what voters hear. And the electorate has consistently made clear that sustained, widespread support for fringe positions–from the abolition of ICE to open borders and the defunding of police departments–is a myth. Instead of giving Republicans the fight they want, Democrats should use this opportunity to give voters what they have consistently said they want: accountability for ICE, strong borders, smart enforcement of our immigration laws, and a pathway to citizenship.

Source: Chad Davis

Our current immigration system is woefully insufficient to meet the demands of the modern world. Despite big pushes by President George W. Bush in 2007, my old boss President Obama in 2012, and President Biden in 2021, the last time Congress meaningfully updated our immigration laws was in 1986, when Ronald Reagan was President, the world had about three billion fewer people, and AARP-eligible (GULP) members like me were in high school. Trump stepped into this vacuum, wreaking havoc and corruption in service of his anti-immigrant agenda. And Republicans in Congress have abdicated their duty to serve as a check on the President.

The American people aren’t happy with the current state of affairs: 59% of voters disapprove of Trump’s handling of immigration issues, including 65% of independents, and 65% of Americans think the Administration’s enforcement tactics have gone too far, including 71% of independents. Voters of all stripes are hungry for reform. And because the modern Republican Party is a cult of personality, where its candidates are forced to supplicate themselves before Trump and his MAGA beliefs, Democrats alone can campaign on enacting creative, resonant, real solutions to our country’s border security and immigration issues.

The exact contours of what border security and immigration reform legislation entails should be discussed and debated on the campaign trail, in town halls, and on the floor of Congress. But recent polling suggests the majority of Democrats, and even some Republicans, want to see ICE abolished. Prominent voices on the online left are again urging the rest of the party to get in line. Democrats shouldn’t take the bait.

Most Americans–Democrats, Republicans, and Independents–believe in the rule of law and want to see it enforced. People reasonably believe that doing away with the agency responsible for enforcing our nation’s immigration laws, or defunding their local police department, would lead to lawlessness.

And when voters associate our party with lawlessness, we lose.

After the first Trump Administration implemented its “zero tolerance” family separation strategy, 25% of Americans supported abolishing ICE–nearly identical to the 27% of Americans who support abolishing (as opposed to reforming or continuing) ICE operations today. Yet by the 2024 election, Republicans were spending hundreds of millions of dollars on ads that attacked Democrats on immigration and law enforcement. It didn’t matter whether or not a candidate had explicitly called to “abolish ICE” or “defund the police” at any point prior. Republicans easily weaponized these slogans to broadly paint our entire party as soft on crime, weak on border security, and unconcerned with economic and quality-of-life issues that voters care about most.

Source: Politifact

Message discipline among Democrats in 2026 won’t stop Republicans from making bad-faith attacks, but we don’t need to give them any more ammo. With this cycle’s first primary elections less than a month away, Democratic candidates should be loudly and solely working to reform ICE and hold bad actors accountable for their actions, not abolish it.

Democrats still face a daunting favorability gap. Our party’s brand is bruised, and voters remain skeptical of our agenda. But Trump’s abhorrent immigration enforcement strategy has given us an opening. We are the only party serious about ensuring public safety, safeguarding civil liberties, upholding the rule of law, and making government work again. Our candidates have the competence, resolve, and track record to make it happen.

That’s a winning formula. We just have to remember to reflect the will of our voters, not the will of our social media feeds.