Abolish ICE!

The government created Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) in 2003, the same time the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was established, as a post-9/11 fearmongering tactic that reframed our immigrant neighbors as a domestic threat. 

Every year, the government spends billions of dollars to uphold the largest detention system in the world—a system designed to detain and deport immigrants who came to the U.S. seeking a brighter future for themselves and their families. And instead, are met with intimidation, neglect, and even violence. 

Every year, thousands of people have their rights violated by a system that operates with very little oversight and accountability. People are denied access to medical care. They are subject to subpar living conditions. They experience preventable illnesses and injuries. And every year, people die at the hands of our government in immigration detention. 

Every year, people come forward with complaints of sexual assault and physical abuse under DHS’s watch. Only a fraction of those complaints are ever investigated. Why?

Because there is no independent oversight—ICE and DHS are responsible for investigating complaints and auditing immigrant prisons and jails. And they don’t want to. 

We can’t reform a system that—at its core—is cruel and inhumane. We can’t reform a system whose primary reason for existence is to vilify, detain, and deport our neighbors. A system that is too easily manipulated and exploited by bad actors, time and time again. 

We need to abolish ICE. We need to redirect funds to a just and fair immigration system that provides a pathway to citizenship for the millions of people who live, work, and care for their families here. And we need to ensure that every single person in this country is treated with the same dignity and respect—their civil rights upheld.