At least 19 ICE agents have called for their own agency to be abolished, as Americans have grown increasingly alarmed over ICE's treatment of immigrants and Latino communities under the Trump administration. (Photo: Getty)
Jun 29, 2018
As the demand to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spreads across the country--and with community members building protest encampments outside ICE facilities in several cities this week--some officers with the 15-year-old agency have now added their voices to the growing call to dissolve it.
\u201cWant to know how rapidly #AbolishICE has gone mainstream?\n\n19 ICE agents are now calling for it. https://t.co/H0N6Rg6Ug3\u201d— Matthew Chapman (@Matthew Chapman) 1530270377
The agency's targeting of undocumented immigrants has weakened its employees' ability to carry out other work, argued 19 officers who signed the letter, which was obtained by the Texas Observer.
The agents work in ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit, which focuses on crimes including drug trafficking, human smuggling, and child pornography.
"The perception of investigative independence is unnecessarily impacted by the political nature of civil immigration enforcement," wrote the agents to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. "Many jurisdictions continue to refuse to work with HSI because of a perceived linkage to the politics of civil immigration."
The officers suggested that ICE be dissolved and its work divided among two new separate agencies, one focused on HSI and one focused on Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO)--the unit which has enforced President Donald Trump's hardline immigration policy.
As the Texas Observer reported, the Department of Homeland Security "shifted HSI funds to other parts of ICE to cover the costs of civil immigration enforcement, including $34.5 million in 2016."
Lawmakers and the public alike have grown increasingly alarmed over the agency's operations as ICE officers under the Trump administration, including forcibly separating children from their parents; conducting aggressive raids in private homes; detaining a man whose green card application was underway; and pressuring a spokesperson to lie about their work.
The call from ICE agents drew attention from Trump critics on social media, who said it put on clear display the fact that the president's immigration policies have centered on persecuting immigrants, contrary to his claims that ICE is focused on protecting U.S. national security.
\u201cThis is a stunning & unsurprising indictment of Trump\u2019s claimed purpose behind the crackdown on \u201cillegal immigration.\u201d It was never about crime. Never about MS-13. Always just about hurting less privileged people of color. All at the expense of *actually protecting America.\u201d— Scott Hechinger (@Scott Hechinger) 1530231191
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
As the demand to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spreads across the country--and with community members building protest encampments outside ICE facilities in several cities this week--some officers with the 15-year-old agency have now added their voices to the growing call to dissolve it.
\u201cWant to know how rapidly #AbolishICE has gone mainstream?\n\n19 ICE agents are now calling for it. https://t.co/H0N6Rg6Ug3\u201d— Matthew Chapman (@Matthew Chapman) 1530270377
The agency's targeting of undocumented immigrants has weakened its employees' ability to carry out other work, argued 19 officers who signed the letter, which was obtained by the Texas Observer.
The agents work in ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit, which focuses on crimes including drug trafficking, human smuggling, and child pornography.
"The perception of investigative independence is unnecessarily impacted by the political nature of civil immigration enforcement," wrote the agents to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. "Many jurisdictions continue to refuse to work with HSI because of a perceived linkage to the politics of civil immigration."
The officers suggested that ICE be dissolved and its work divided among two new separate agencies, one focused on HSI and one focused on Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO)--the unit which has enforced President Donald Trump's hardline immigration policy.
As the Texas Observer reported, the Department of Homeland Security "shifted HSI funds to other parts of ICE to cover the costs of civil immigration enforcement, including $34.5 million in 2016."
Lawmakers and the public alike have grown increasingly alarmed over the agency's operations as ICE officers under the Trump administration, including forcibly separating children from their parents; conducting aggressive raids in private homes; detaining a man whose green card application was underway; and pressuring a spokesperson to lie about their work.
The call from ICE agents drew attention from Trump critics on social media, who said it put on clear display the fact that the president's immigration policies have centered on persecuting immigrants, contrary to his claims that ICE is focused on protecting U.S. national security.
\u201cThis is a stunning & unsurprising indictment of Trump\u2019s claimed purpose behind the crackdown on \u201cillegal immigration.\u201d It was never about crime. Never about MS-13. Always just about hurting less privileged people of color. All at the expense of *actually protecting America.\u201d— Scott Hechinger (@Scott Hechinger) 1530231191
As the demand to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spreads across the country--and with community members building protest encampments outside ICE facilities in several cities this week--some officers with the 15-year-old agency have now added their voices to the growing call to dissolve it.
\u201cWant to know how rapidly #AbolishICE has gone mainstream?\n\n19 ICE agents are now calling for it. https://t.co/H0N6Rg6Ug3\u201d— Matthew Chapman (@Matthew Chapman) 1530270377
The agency's targeting of undocumented immigrants has weakened its employees' ability to carry out other work, argued 19 officers who signed the letter, which was obtained by the Texas Observer.
The agents work in ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit, which focuses on crimes including drug trafficking, human smuggling, and child pornography.
"The perception of investigative independence is unnecessarily impacted by the political nature of civil immigration enforcement," wrote the agents to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. "Many jurisdictions continue to refuse to work with HSI because of a perceived linkage to the politics of civil immigration."
The officers suggested that ICE be dissolved and its work divided among two new separate agencies, one focused on HSI and one focused on Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO)--the unit which has enforced President Donald Trump's hardline immigration policy.
As the Texas Observer reported, the Department of Homeland Security "shifted HSI funds to other parts of ICE to cover the costs of civil immigration enforcement, including $34.5 million in 2016."
Lawmakers and the public alike have grown increasingly alarmed over the agency's operations as ICE officers under the Trump administration, including forcibly separating children from their parents; conducting aggressive raids in private homes; detaining a man whose green card application was underway; and pressuring a spokesperson to lie about their work.
The call from ICE agents drew attention from Trump critics on social media, who said it put on clear display the fact that the president's immigration policies have centered on persecuting immigrants, contrary to his claims that ICE is focused on protecting U.S. national security.
\u201cThis is a stunning & unsurprising indictment of Trump\u2019s claimed purpose behind the crackdown on \u201cillegal immigration.\u201d It was never about crime. Never about MS-13. Always just about hurting less privileged people of color. All at the expense of *actually protecting America.\u201d— Scott Hechinger (@Scott Hechinger) 1530231191
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.