Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand calls for end of ICE

They carried signs with slogans like “We are all immigrants” as they chanted “Love, not hate, makes America great”. Cortez was among the more vocal candidates calling for ICE to be shut down. Meanwhile, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s stance that ICE should be abolished has gained prominence since her longshot victory in Tuesday’s Democratic congressional primary over U.S. Rep. Joe Crowley in NY. But he has also been quick to note his vote opposing the 2002 law that paved the way for ICE to replace the old Immigration and Naturalization Service following the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Thousands of protesters gathered across the country on Saturday for “Families Belong Together” marches protesting the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

Even some ICE agents themselves have called for the agency to be dissolved.

U.S. Attorney for Oregon Billy Williams said his office is committed to protecting freedom of speech and peaceful assembly: “However, when individuals break the law by blocking employees and the public from accessing a federal facility, federal law enforcement will respond to restore normal business operations”.

Once relegated to a fringe philosophy on the far-left of the Democratic Party base, suggestions to outright dismantle ICE entirely and to immediately press for the impeachment of President Donald Trump have started to enter the mainstream leftist lexicon as American political polarization deepens. “And we need to build into any new structure the ability for ICE as an agency or whatever the new agency is, to be accountable back to congress”.

ICE spokeswoman Liz Johnson condemned calls to abolish the agency as “dangerously misguided” in a statement Friday.

More: ICE on ice?

The 19 investigators, all from the HSI division, wrote that their investigations, “have been perceived as targeting undocumented aliens, instead of the transnational criminal organizations that facilitate cross border crimes impacting our communities and national security”.

A federal judge ruled Tuesday that immigration authorities must unite families separated along the border within 30 days. “We wish Tom and his family all the best and know they will remain part of the DHS family”.

Shortly after appearing on the show, the senator took to social media to elaborate she had come around to support the opinion ICE was now a “deportation force” and needed to be replaced with “something that actually works”.