DNC Votes to Both Abolish ICE and Reform It Too

DNC Votes to Both Abolish ICE and Reform It Too

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has apparently found a way to settle its fight over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): support both sides.

DNC members meeting in Austin on Saturday approved competing resolutions on ICE, one calling for reforms to the agency and another urging Democratic lawmakers to abolish it.

The abolish-ICE resolution goes well beyond criticizing President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

It calls on Democrats in Congress to “craft legislation abolishing ICE,” wind down the immigration detention system and condition Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding on ending several enforcement practices.

Those include workplace raids, mass roundups, arrests at courthouses and ICE check-ins, and enforcement actions near schools and houses of worship.

The resolution also calls for closing detention facilities, ending contracts with private detention companies, and releasing immigration detainees except in limited circumstances. It seeks expanded DHS civil-rights oversight and accountability for officials accused of misconduct. Democrats simultaneously passed a separate resolution calling for “concrete reforms” to ICE.

Louisiana DNC member Michele Johnson, who proposed the abolition measure, said Democrats needed to stop worrying about political caution and simply take a position.

“I think one of the reasons why people are not trusting the party is because we sound so academic,” Johnson said. “We sound focus group tested, we sound poll tested because we’re worried about saying the wrong thing or doing the wrong thing and not just like, just stand on business, like take a position.”

Yvonne Reeves-Chong, who voted against the measure, warned that it could win support from one part of the Democratic base while drawing “fire” from other voters.

“I would strongly suggest we get to the business of winning races so we can make the policies that make a difference,” she said. 

That tension surfaced Thursday in committee. Some members tried to replace “abolish” with “restructure,” noting that the party had previously backed major changes to ICE without calling for its elimination. The amendment was withdrawn, and the abolition resolution advanced 25-12 with one abstention.

DNC Chairman Ken Martin tried to keep one foot on each side of the line. He noted that Saturday’s resolutions do not amount to the party’s formal platform, which will not be adopted until the 2028 national convention.

But Martin was clear about what Democrats do agree on: they want the Trump administration’s current immigration enforcement stopped.

“Clearly, the one thing that unites Democrats, regardless of their position on reform versus abolish or whatever other ways to change what’s happening, is people believe that what ICE is doing right now and CBP and the federal government should stop,” Martin said. “There has to be a better way.” 

Neither resolution is binding, and the party’s official platform won’t be set until the 2028 convention. 

But Democrats now head into the midterms with their own national committee on record for both positions simultaneously.

Republicans will probably be happy to let them explain how both can be the party’s position.

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