Maxine Dexter, left, pictured alongside a group of ICE agents, right. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images; John Moore/Getty Images)
When two civilians in Minneapolis were shot and killed in separate confrontations with immigration officials in January, Dexter was among the first lawmakers who promised to vote against any spending legislation for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that didn’t also include major reforms to ICE, which operates under DHS.
Although the vast majority of Democrats eventually adopted Dexter’s stance over DHS funding, the idea first began as a position held by the Congressional Progressive Caucus and was championed by members like Reps. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.
Protesters, using whistles to alert neighborhoods to ICE activity, face off with Minneapolis police officers in Minneapolis, Minn., on Jan. 24, 2026. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)
Those changes would represent the most direct intervention into the agency’s operation since its creation in 2003.
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Republicans have rebuffed those demands, arguing they would severely limit the administration’s immigration goals.
Dexter’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday about the nature of her comments — including whether she had made a campaign promise at a town hall or who had funded the event.
Leo Briceno is a politics reporter for the congressional team at Fox News Digital. He was previously a reporter with World Magazine.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-dem-compares-trumps-illegal-immigration-crackdown-terrorism-abolish-ice