Rep. Shri Thanedar, a Michigan Democrat, is escalating his party’s attacks on federal immigration enforcement, announcing plans to introduce legislation that would completely dismantle Immigration and Customs Enforcement and strip the agency of its authority.
Thanedar said this week he will roll out the “Abolish ICE Act,” a proposal his office says would dissolve the federal law enforcement agency altogether. Speaking at a news conference Wednesday, Thanedar argued that ICE is no longer capable of reform and accused the agency of operating without meaningful restraint.
“We must reform ICE, but it looks at this stage, folks, that ICE is beyond reform,” Thanedar said. “ICE is totally out of control.”
The lawmaker went further, calling for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to “face the consequences” and be impeached. Thanedar claimed immigration enforcement was handled effectively before ICE was created in 2003 and insisted the agency is no longer necessary.
“We can do this without ICE,” he said. “We do not need the murders. We do not need this paramilitary organization’s members on our streets terrorizing U.S. citizens, terrorizing moms [and] terrorizing our children.”
Thanedar’s proposal comes amid heightened political tensions following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good by an ICE officer in Minneapolis last week. The incident has become a rallying point for Democrats who oppose the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement efforts.
Those tensions escalated further Wednesday after another shooting involving a federal ICE officer in Minneapolis. According to the Department of Homeland Security, an officer shot a Venezuelan migrant who was attempting to flee a traffic stop. The migrant was struck in the leg, and both he and the officer were hospitalized.
The back-to-back incidents have fueled Democratic criticism of federal law enforcement operations in cities across the country. Several Democrats have characterized ICE’s presence as dangerous and unnecessary, tying the shootings directly to President Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, whose district includes the area where Good was shot, described ICE as an “occupying force” and accused the agency of acting in a “lawless” manner. Her comments echoed broader claims from Democrats that federal immigration enforcement has crossed a line.
Supporters of abolishing ICE point to recent polling suggesting the idea may resonate with a significant portion of the public. An Economist/YouGov poll released Tuesday found that 46 percent of respondents support eliminating ICE, while 43 percent oppose doing so. ICE currently employs more than 20,000 people and is running a nationwide recruitment campaign.
In addition to Thanedar’s bill, other congressional Democrats have floated proposals aimed at limiting ICE’s authority in the wake of the Minneapolis shooting. Those ideas include ending qualified immunity for officers and blocking funding increases for the Department of Homeland Security.
“We should not be giving money for an increase in the ICE budget,” Rep. Ro Khanna of California said Friday. “We should be fighting this.”
Taken together, the push to abolish ICE reflects a broader divide over immigration enforcement, with Democrats calling for sweeping changes while the Trump administration continues to defend its crackdown as necessary to enforce the law and protect public safety.
