Abolishing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is the hot new thing on the Left.
It’s like their version of “repeal and replace,” the Republican Party’s oft-promised, but never delivered, pledge to do away with the Affordable Care Act.
The funny thing here is certain Democratic lawmakers clearly didn’t pay close enough attention to the GOP’s strategy on healthcare. People like Reps. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., and Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., have a lot to learn about the fine art of stringing along the base.
You don’t, for example, produce a stunt bill that you later disown because the opposition calls your bluff. That’s just amateur hour stuff.
The three Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill Thursday, titled The Establishing a Humane Immigration Enforcement System Act, fully expecting it to be dead on arrival. What they didn’t account for was Republican leadership allowing the bill to go to a vote.
House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., who opposes doing away with ICE, explained the reason behind allowing the bill to go forward, telling the Hill, “Democrats have been trying to make July 4 about abolishing ICE, which is a radical, extreme position that would lead to open borders and undermine America’s national security.”
He added, “I think it’s the wrong approach. I think everyone ought to be on record about where they stand on that issue.”
What happened next is not surprising.
“Republican House leadership announced earlier on Thursday that they would allow the bill to be brought to a vote in order to force members to officially state their position on whether the law enforcement agency … should be abolished,” the Washington Free Beacon reported.
The report added, “But now, the three representatives say they won’t vote for the unamended bill that they introduced.”
Instead of voting for their own unchanged bill, the three put out a press release attacking House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., that accused him of being unserious about their measure and calling his allowing it to go to a vote a “political stunt.”
“If Speaker Ryan puts our bill on the floor, we plan to vote no and will instead use the opportunity to force an urgently needed and long-overdue conversation on the House floor,” they said in the statement.
This is some serious bush league material. Ryan isn’t the one who comes across looking foolish.
Like “repeal and replace,” “Abolish ICE” is a great rallying cry for the base. It’s great for fundraising. And like Republican lawmakers with the ACA, the Democratic Party isn’t actually serious about abolishing the immigration-related law enforcement agency. It’s all talk to keep the base and donors happy. It’s the carrot and the voters are the donkey.
However, unlike Republicans, Democratic lawmakers may not be savvy enough to pull this off. Whereas the GOP was able to sell the “repeal and replace” gimmick for at least two midterm elections, Democrats will be lucky if the “Abolish ICE” routine lasts even six months.
With teammates like Pocan, Jayapal, and Espaillat, I wouldn’t count on it.
