Democrats in Congress are introducing legislation to abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. And Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan calls it “the craziest position” he’s ever seen. (July 12) AP
A group of progressive House Democrats introduced a bill Thursday that would abolish the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency within one year, although the legislation has little to no chance of becoming law.
Reps. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin, Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Adriano Espaillat of New York put forth the Establishing a Humane Immigration Enforcement System Act, which would eliminate ICE and set up a commission to come up with a “human immigration system that upholds the dignity of all individuals.”
There has been a growing call from immigration rights activists and some Democratic lawmakers to abolish the agency since the White House began its “zero tolerance” policy on immigration, which aims to detain and prosecute anyone who enters the U.S. illegally. But that approach led to the separation of migrant families crossing the U.S.-Mexico border and images of small children taken from their parents sparked outrage and energized critics of the Trump administration.
Under pressure, Trump ended the separation policy and the administration is working to reunite the families but the anger against ICE among many progressives continues to rage.
Despite the grassroots movement against ICE, the legislation introduced Thursday has almost no chance of becoming…
