Democrats have spent years insisting they only wanted to reform U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, but this weekend the party’s rank-and-file showed a more aggressive appetite. At the Democratic National Committee’s summer meeting in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, party members approved two competing, non-binding immigration proposals — one calling for reforming ICE and another for abolishing it outright.
Technically, neither measure sets official party policy. That question won’t be settled until the 2028 convention. But the fact that the abolition resolution passed at all reveals where the energy in the party actually lies, according to a report from PJ Media.
The proposal to eliminate ICE was introduced by Michele Johnson, a DNC member from Louisiana. Johnson argued that Democrats need to stop hedging and stake out a firmer position. She pointed to the historical breakup of ICE’s predecessor, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, as precedent, and said the party’s cautious, poll-tested messaging is a big reason voters don’t trust Democrats in the first place.
Not everyone in the room agreed. DNC member Yvonne Reeves-Chong voted against the abolition measure, warning it would energize only a narrow slice of the base while alienating everyone else. Her advice: focus on winning elections first and worry about policy later. That sentiment reflects the memory of how “Abolish ICE” tested disastrously the last time Democrats embraced it.
DNC Chairman Ken Martin downplayed the rift, saying Democrats agree that the conduct of ICE and Customs and Border Protection needs to change. “There has to be a better way,” he said.
The politics here may be more worrying for Democrats than the polling. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll released in August found that immigration remains a stronger issue for President Donald Trump than the economy or Iran.
Republicans wasted no time turning the vote into a campaign weapon. RNC Chairman Joe Gruters issued a statement saying, “Democrats made it official: they care more about protecting violent illegal aliens than American families.” He added that while Trump and Republicans are securing the border and standing with law enforcement, Democrats want to let dangerous illegal criminals run wild in communities. “This resolution is political suicide,” Gruters said, “and Democrats will pay for choosing open borders over public safety, border security, and backing the blue.”
Between now and the next nominating convention, Democrats can argue among themselves about whether to reform or abolish ICE. But simply having that debate may hurt them, because voters tend to support strong borders and the rule of law. The polls show it, and now the DNC is on record approving a policy proposal to abolish the agency entirely. Whether that helps or hurts the party as it tries to distance itself from its socialist wing is an open question — one that may well be answered at the ballot box.
Source: pjmedia.com — https://pjmedia.com/matt-margolis/2026/08/15/its-official-democrats-want-to-abolish-ice-n4956185
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