Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., said she supports abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement because it has become a “deportation force.”
Gillibrand’s comments were prompted after CNN’s Chris Cuomo asked if she concurred with Democratic House candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York who has called for the agency to be totally eliminated.
“Well, I agree with it. I don’t think ICE today is working as intended,” Gillibrand said in response.
Gillibrand continued by saying instead, the government should “build something that actually works.”
“I believe that it has become a deportation force. And I think you should separate out the criminal justice from the immigration issues,” she added. “I think you should reimagine ICE under a new agency, with a very different mission, and take those two missions out. So we believe that we should protect families that need our help, and that is not what ICE is doing today.”
“And that’s why I believe you should get rid of it, start over, reimagine it and build something that actually works,” she added.
Lawmakers in the Senate such as Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., have said recently it is necessary to “re-examine ICE and it’s role,” but haven’t advocated for abolishing the agency entirely. Meanwhile, Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., introduced legislation this week to eliminate ICE.
[Related: Cynthia Nixon: ICE is a ‘terrorist organization’ that should be abolished]
ICE has come under scrutiny recently due to the Trump administration’s zero tolerance policy to prosecute all illegal immigrants, which resulted in thousands of children being separated from their accompanying adult.
In response, Trump signed an executive order last week to prevent the splitting up of apprehended immigrant families.
