One of the top items on Democrats’ agenda if they win control of the House and Senate in November should be to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said Sunday.
“When we flip the House and flip the Senate, I think the first thing we should do is deal with the children who are being separated from their families at the border. I think we should get rid of ICE,” Gillibrand said during a panel at Ozy Fest in New York City.
[Opinion: ‘Abolish ICE’ is style over substance]
Gillibrand is one of several Democrats who are advocating for an end to ICE following backlash over the separation of children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border and immigration raids conducted by federal immigration officials under the Trump administration.
As a growing number of Democrats have joined the calls for ICE to be abolished, Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., introduced legislation this month aimed at doing just that.
During the event Sunday, Gillibrand said she believes there should be two missions for the nation’s immigration policy: a national security mission and humanitarian mission.
“These are civil issues, these are families. Look at [immigration] as the economic engine that it is, that immigration is our strength,” she said. “Our diversity is what makes our country and our economy so strong.”
In addition to eliminating ICE, Gillibrand said a Democrat-controlled Congress should also pass gun control within the first month of the new Congress, including legislation banning bump stocks and implementing universal background checks.
