As Democrats plot to retake power during next year’s midterm elections, some are embracing a strategy considered politically toxic by many in the party.
Democrats squaring off in primaries across the country are calling for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or for major changes that would strip the agency of its core functions. The resurgence of the “Abolish ICE” movement comes as some Democrats argue President Donald Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown has gone too far, though leading Democrats have still not coalesced around an alternative immigration policy platform.
“Let me be clear, fuck ICE,” Democratic Illinois House candidate Patty Garcia said during a campaign announcement in November. “It’s time to abolish ICE and hold Trump and his entire clan accountable.”
Garcia, who controversially became the presumptive Democratic nominee for a deep blue seat by default following a retirement gambit by her boss, is likely to take her anti-ICE advocacy with her to Congress next year.
Other high-profile Democratic House candidates such as outgoing New York City comptroller Brad Lander and Illinois House candidate Kat Abughazaleh have also forcefully called for the agency’s dismantlement. Lander and Abughazaleh are both running in contested primaries.
“I’m happy to say abolish ICE,” Lander told Zeteo News in June. “I hope other people will say it too.”
Authorities arrested both candidates in separate incidents earlier in 2025 for interfering with ICE proceedings. Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner has gone further and suggested that individual agents should face trial.
Left-wing Democrats in Congress, who may not use the viral slogan themselves, appear to welcome some of their colleagues using “Abolish ICE” messaging.
“You’re gonna hear rhetoric like that because people are in their communities, and they’re seeing masked men and unmarked vehicles go and terrorize our communities in broad daylight,” Democratic Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a brief interview on Friday.
Though Frost did not say whether he would use the phrase himself, the left-wing Floridian said “there needs to be huge changes to ICE” and that $170 billion allocated for border security and immigration enforcement signed into law by Trump in July should be clawed back.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) countered that anti-ICE messaging is dangerous for the men and women serving in law enforcement.
“Attacks and demonization of ICE is wrong,” Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told the DCNF in a statement. “President Trump campaigned on immigration enforcement, the American people voted for it, and Secretary [Kristi] Noem is delivering.”
McLaughlin also stated ICE officers are facing a 1,150% increase in assaults as compared with the same period in 2024 under the Biden administration.
Some Democrats are actively trying to distance themselves from the “abolish ICE” movement, which has proven unpopular over consecutive electoral cycles.
“Obviously, there are practices going on at ICE that I fundamentally disagree with, but I don’t think the abolition movement, just like the Defund the Police movement, is the answer,” Democratic Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz said in a brief interview.
“I wouldn’t use that [abolish ICE] language,” Democratic California Rep. Ami Bera said Thursday. “But if we get the majority, obviously we’ll investigate what they’re doing.”
National Republicans appear eager to paint Democrats as the party of “open borders” with calls to eliminate ICE trickling back into some Democrat’s messaging.
“Abolishing ICE has become the radical litmus test Democrats can’t resist,” National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) spokesman Mike Marinella said in a statement.
Rather than condemn the politically toxic slogan, leading Democrats have cast doubt that “Abolish ICE” is making a messaging comeback.
House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar and Democratic Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin both told the DCNF they were not aware of Democrats supporting the agency’s dismantlement.
“The only time I hear that [abolish ICE] is actually from my Republican colleagues,” Aguilar, the third-ranking House Democrat, insisted. “I haven’t heard any Democrats calling for defunding law enforcement agencies.”
House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark dodged when asked whether calls to abolish ICE are welcome in the party. The second-ranking House Democrat said her caucus is focused on lowering costs.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries asked the DCNF for the names of individuals who are calling for ICE’s abolition when pressed on the topic Friday. The lead Democrat said he had not spoken with any “abolish ICE” proponents about their views and slammed Trump’s deportation agenda.
Just 38% of American adults approve of Trump’s job performance on immigration, according to an AP-NORC poll released Thursday. However, a November Reuters/Ipsos poll found that voters favor Republicans to handle immigration than Democrats by a 12-point margin.
Democratic California Rep. Jimmy Gomez, who has previously endorsed belligerent rhetoric against Republicans, argued that ICE needed to be met with resistance, though stopped short of abolition.
“We need to meet them where they’re at,” Gomez told the DCNF. “If they’re in the streets, we got to be there.”
Andi Shae Napier and Caden Olson contributed to this report.
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