‘Welcome To The Summer Of #AbolishICE’

Radical Left-Wing Activists Make Abolishing The Immigration Enforcement Agency ‘A Litmus Test For Democrats’
SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): “[I]t seems these socialist groups are adding new and dangerous immigration proposals to their already terrible economic policies. In particular, they are calling to abolish the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). ICE was established after 9/11 to protect our homeland…. If these self-described socialists had their way, we would have no immigration laws and our borders would be meaningless. The result would effectively erase our national boundaries and destroy the principles of law and order…. Perhaps even more alarming is that what was once a fringe idea has become mainstream in the modern Democratic Party.” (Sen. McConnell, Op-Ed, “If Socialists Had Their Way, We'd Have No Borders And No Security,” The Courier-Journal, 7/19/2018)

Given The Opportunity To Support ICE Agents And Their Mission, Democrats ‘Object’
“A GOP Senate resolution supporting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — and knocking progressives’ call to ‘abolish’ it — was blocked by Democrats on Wednesday shortly after a similar measure was approved by the House. Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) asked for unanimous consent to pass the resolution, introduced by Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), offering Senate support for ICE officials, members of the military and law enforcement…. But Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) objected …” (“Senate Democrats Block Resolution Supporting ICE,” The Hill, 7/18/2018)

“The House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday for a resolution backing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement … most Democrats voted ‘present’ rather than taking a position for or against the resolution sponsored by Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.). The vote was 244 to 35, with 133 Democrats voting present.” (“House GOP Passes Measure Lauding ICE; Democrats Withhold Votes In Protest,” The Washington Post, 7/18/2018)

‘The Intellectual Forefather Of The Abolish-ICE Movement,’ Sean McElwee, Wants ‘The Democratic Party To Begin Seriously Resisting An Unbridled White-Supremacist Surveillance State’

McELWEE : ‘ICE Has Become A Genuine Threat To Democracy,’ ‘An Unaccountable Strike Force Executing A Campaign Of Ethnic Cleansing’
“The intellectual forefather of the abolish-ICE movement is Sean McElwee, a New York City–based co-founder of the think tank Data Progress…. Beginning with a March column in The Nation titled simply ‘It’s Time to Abolish ICE,’ McElwee … has leveraged his large and influential Twitter following to raise #AbolishICE’s profile…. He modeled the abolish-ICE campaign along the lines of Occupy Wall Street …” (“Abolishing ICE Isn’t Very Popular (Yet),” Huffington Post, 7/02/2018)

• “‘ICE has become a genuine threat to democracy, and it is destroying thousands of lives,’ McElwee wrote…. ‘The call to abolish ICE is, above all, a demand for the Democratic Party to begin seriously resisting an unbridled white-supremacist surveillance state that it had a hand in creating,’ he said.” (“How ‘Abolish ICE’ Became The Left’s New Rallying Cry,” MinnPost, 7/03/2018)
• SEAN McELWEE: ICE is “an apparatus that has a lot of people in it who are pretty committed to the idea of what I would call ethnic cleansing.”

(“‘Abolish ICE,’ Explained,” Vox, 6/28/2018)

‘“Abolish ICE!” Is The New Rallying Cry For Progressive Democrats’
“‘Abolish ICE!’ is the new rallying cry for progressive Democrats” (“‘Abolish ICE!’ Is The New Rallying Cry For Progressive Democrats,” NBC News, 6/22/2018)

• “Welcome to the summer of #AbolishICE.” (“Abolishing ICE Isn’t Very Popular (Yet),” Huffington Post, 7/02/2018)
“Supporters of ‘abolish ICE,’ which grew quickly from a hashtag to the chant that followed Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen out of a D.C. restaurant this past week, want more…. Ideally, they want ICE to be shut down …” (The Washington Post, 6/24/2018)

Prominent Senate Democrats Rush To Embrace Abolishing ICE
“Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) became the first sitting senator on Thursday to call for the elimination of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) …” (“Gillibrand Calls To Eliminate ICE: ‘Get Rid Of It, Start Over,’” The Hill, 6/28/2018)

• SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY): “So when we flip the House, and flip the Senate, I think the first thing we should do is … I think we should get rid of ICE.” (“Gillibrand: Democrats Should Immediately Abolish ICE Once They Take Back Congress,” The Daily Caller, 7/23/2018)

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): “… we need to rebuild our immigration system from top to bottom, starting by replacing ICE …” (“These Democrats Want To Abolish ICE,” CNN, 7/03/2018)

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA): “I think there’s no question that we’ve got to critically reexamine ICE and its role and the way that it is being administered and the work it is doing, and we need to probably think about starting from scratch.” (“Calls To Abolish ICE Are Splintering The Democratic Party,” BuzzFeed News, 7/02/2018)

‘The List Of Democrats Calling To Abolish ICE Keeps Growing,’
One Dem Congresswoman Even Calls ICE Building ‘The Headquarters For The Gestapo Of The United States Of America’
REP. YVETTE CLARKE (D-NY): “We are standing in front of a building [ICE Manhattan branch] that has become the headquarters for the Gestapo of the United States of America.” (Newsday’s Matthew Chayes, @chayesmatthew, Twitter, 1/27/2018)

“Abolishing the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is fast becoming a litmus test for Democrats …” (“Abolishing ICE Becomes Dem Litmus Test,” The Hill, 6/30/2018)

• “More Democrats have joined the growing list of names who want to abolish US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, more commonly known as ICE. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who beat Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley of New York in the primary last week, ran on a platform of abolishing the agency, and so far, more lawmakers have echoed her call.” (“These Democrats Want To Abolish ICE,” CNN, 7/03/2018)
• “Two Democratic members of the U.S. House, Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin and Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, have introduced legislation to abolish ICE …”(“How ‘Abolish ICE’ Became The Left’s New Rallying Cry,” MinnPost, 7/03/2018)
• “[New York City] Mayor Bill de Blasio came out with a call to abolish and significantly reform ICE … ‘It’s no longer acceptable,’ he said of the agency.” (“The List Of Democrats Calling To Abolish ICE Keeps Growing,” Vox, 6/30/2018)
• “‘I think we’ve come to a moment where we need to call for the abolishment of ICE,’ actress Cynthia Nixon, who is challenging New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo …” (“‘Abolish ICE!’ Is The New Rallying Cry For Progressive Democrats,” NBC News, 6/22/2018)
• “Kaniela Ing, a millennial democratic socialist and state lawmaker seeking the Democratic nomination for Hawaii’s 1st Congressional District, has also embraced the call to abolish ICE. He sported an ‘Abolish ICE’ T-shirt at a recent protest outside an ICE branch office in Honolulu.” (“Abolishing ICE Isn’t Very Popular (Yet),” Huffington Post, 7/02/2018)

For Good Measure, Some Activists Are Demanding ICE Be Defunded, Too
“The spotlight on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is about to become brighter as Congress weighs the Trump administration’s request for a huge spending boost even as a growing number of Democrats want the agency abolished.” (“Clash Looms Over ICE Funding,” The Hill, 7/08/2018)

• “‘My read is that “Abolish ICE” is the demand, and defunding ICE is the mechanism to do that,’ said Sean McElwee, co-founder of Data for Progress, who coined ‘Abolish ICE’ as a hashtag in February 2017.” (“Democratic Insurgents Want To ‘Abolish ICE.’ Democrats Aren’t There Yet.,” The Washington Post, 6/24/2018)

UNITED WE DREAM: “Tell Congress: Defund ICE, CBP …” (United We Dream Website, Accessed 7/17/2018)

INDIVISIBLE: “Defund Trump’s Mass Deportation Machine” (“Defund Trump’s Mass Deportation Machine,” Indivisible Website, Accessed 7/17/2018)

• “Call your MoCs today and let them know that no budget that includes increases to Trump’s deportation force or any funding for Trump’s mass deportation agenda should get their support, even if that means withholding the votes needed to avert a government shutdown.” (“Defund Trump’s Mass Deportation Machine,” Indivisible Website, Accessed 7/17/2018)

ANGEL PADILLA, Indivisible Policy Director: “ICE is terrorizing American communities right now.” (Sean McElwee, “It’s Time to Abolish ICE,” The Nation, 3/09/2018)

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