Several Democrats called for ICE to be abolished during Trump's tenure in the White House. (Getty Images)
In 2018, during an appearance on CNN, Gillibrand said: "I don’t think ICE today is working as intended. . . . I believe that it has become a deportation force, and I think you should separate the criminal justice from the immigration issues."
"I think you should reimagine ICE under a new agency with a very different mission and take those two missions out," she added at the time. "We believe that we should protect families who need our help and that is not what ICE is doing today, and that’s why I believe you should get rid of it, start over, reimagine it and build something that actually works."
Warren also took issue with the agency in 2018, writing in a Facebook post in June 2018: "[Trump's] deeply immoral actions have made it obvious that we need to rebuild our immigration system from top to bottom, starting by replacing ICE with something that reflects our values."
Though he didn't directly call for ICE to be abolished, a 2019 plan released by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats and sought the party's nomination for president in 2016 and 2020, included breaking up ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Deportation and enforcement would return to the Department of Justice, customs matters to the Treasury, and naturalization and citizenship to the State Department under Sanders’ proposal.
"We should eliminate the agency as it stands and start from scratch to restructure its functions," Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said of ICE in 2018. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
The effort was also favored heavily by Espaillat, who said then that the lawmakers were "pushing to bring an end to ICE as the agency has strayed too far from its original mission, intent and purpose."
"We are witnessing a human rights crisis, and our bill would bring forward a new model and dismantle ICE once and for all," he added.
Joining her colleagues, Velázquez also said then that "the time has come to abolish ICE."
Blumenauer also called for an end to the agency in 2018, insisting the Trump administration had "made the agency so toxic that it's time to abolish ICE, and start over."
The Oregon lawmaker's office noted in a press release at the time that he had been "one of the first members of Congress to call for ICE to be abolished" and voted against the formation of ICE.
Like Blumenauer, McGovern also voted against the formation of ICE. In a 2018 comment, the Massachusetts congressman said, "It's time to abolish ICE."
"We need to start a fresh conversation," he added at the time.
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Though she wasn't sworn in as a member of Congress until January 2019, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., has also made calls to abolish ICE and even suggested that she would like to eliminate the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the agency.
The congresswoman's remarks came in a July 2019 discussion with The New Yorker Radio Hour’s David Remnick about the possibility of reforming or abolishing ICE.
"Would you get rid of Homeland Security, too?" Remnick asked.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) seal. (PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty Images)
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The agency is currently led by Acting Director Patrick J. Lechleitner, an American law enforcement officer who has served in the role since July 2023.
CBP records show that the first six months of fiscal year 2024 had 1,340,801 total encounters, exceeding the first six months of fiscal year 2023, which set a record of 1,226,254 total encounters.
Kyle Morris covers politics for Fox News. Story tips can be sent via email and on X: @RealKyleMorris.
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