As calls to abolish ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) continue among many Democrats, a new report examines exactly what that might look like. The Breitbart analysis looked at federal data and found that abolishing ICE five years ago would have resulted in 1.4 million criminal illegal aliens being released into the country, rather than arrested and deported.
Ira Mehlman with the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) believes this is a new extreme for Democrats. "You have one party that is completely giving up any pretense of wanting to enforce U.S. immigration laws," he says. "Essentially what they want is just anybody to be able to come in under any conditions that they choose."
Not only is it extreme, but it is likely a losing issue for Democrats, according to polls. "Most Americans across the political spectrum believe that we need to enforce our immigration laws, and that we need a police force that enforces those laws," says Mehlman. Indeed, recent polls show nearly 70 percent of Americans, and nearly 60 percent of Democrats, opposed to abolishing ICE.
Nevertheless, Dems are pressing on. Last week, 170 House Democrats voted "present" on a resolution praising ICE for the work it does in combating crime. Only 36 Democrats voted in favor of the resolution.
Mehlman believes agencies like ICE deserve praise rather than criticism. "It is our border patrol and immigration enforcement personnel who are on the front lines of saving people's lives, and instead of getting credit for that they just get abused by a lot of people who simply don't want our immigration laws enforced at all," he says.