We need to end the cruelty and lawlessness of the Trump administration immediately.

No more masked agents going door to door asking Americans for their papers, profiling people based on the color of their skin, and arresting and detaining hard-working people without warrants or cause.

I’ve outlined a plan to stop ICE’s lawlessness in the short term while working to abolish and replace or rebuild ICE from the ground up in the longer term.   

And once we’ve stopped the cruelty and the assault on our constitution, we need to finally fix our immigration system. 

Our immigration system has been broken for decades, and everybody knows it. We need a common-sense system that is orderly, humane, and fair: secure borders, fair and timely asylum processing, legal pathways that encourage more legal immigration, and enforcement that respects the due process of law. 

And that starts with recognizing that immigration is, and has always been, a source of vitality, strength, and economic growth in America. Here's my plan:

Immediate Priorities

Democrats must use the leverage they have now — including Senate rules and funding deadlines — to force real accountability.

1. Leverage the government funding process in the Senate to demand immediate reforms. Democrats must condition support for the Homeland Security Department budget on meaningful immigration reforms — including a ban on masks, warrant requirements for arrests, visible identification for officers, an end to racial profiling, reforms to ICE’s recruitment and training practices, and accountability for abuse and law-breaking.

2. Demand full, independent investigations into the murders of Renee Nicole Good, Alex Pretti, and other violent incidents, including ICE use-of-force policies and chain of command. Hold field hearings on ICE abuses nationwide, and document instances of abuse, violent conduct, and violation of constitutional rights.

3. Support impeachment of Secretary Kristi Noem. Democrats should unite behind articles of impeachment for Kristi Noem for undermining transparency, obstructing Congressional access to facilities, and violating the public trust by directing violent, unaccountable enforcement tactics. Resignation is not the end of accountability.

Structural Reform After Winning Majorities

1. Abolish ICE, which has only existed since 2003. Long-term reform should include a reversal of the post-9/11 establishment of ICE inside of the Department of Homeland Security. The 2003 shift split up the Immigration and Naturalization Service, establishing an enforcement agency divorced from the broader mission of implementing a comprehensive immigration policy consistent with American traditions. ICE has become a lawless, unaccountable, poorly-run agency. Immigration enforcement authority must once again sit within an agency dedicated to a broader mission.

2. Return immigration enforcement to a public-safety-centered model with appropriate limits on use of force and respect for the rule of law and constitutional rights. Immigration enforcement plays an important role in public safety, but it has to include due process and a focus on violent offenders. It must focus on making communities safer, not creating and promoting chaos.

3. Go back on offense to push for the comprehensive immigration reform that Americans know we need: secure borders, fair and timely asylum processing, citizenship for DACA recipients, legal pathways that encourage more legal immigration, and enforcement that respects the due process of law and basic human dignity. Immigration is a source of strength, vitality, renewal, and growth, and Democrats shouldn’t be afraid to say that.