{"id":9291,"date":"2018-08-02T11:29:27","date_gmt":"2018-08-02T18:29:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=9291"},"modified":"2018-08-02T11:30:30","modified_gmt":"2018-08-02T18:30:30","slug":"the-abolish-ice-movement-explained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2018\/08\/02\/the-abolish-ice-movement-explained\/","title":{"rendered":"The Abolish ICE Movement Explained"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"field-wrapper-attribution\" class=\"field-wrapper content-container clearfix inline-fields\">\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-article-date field--type-datestamp field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\"><span class=\"pb-timestamp\"><span class=\"date-display-single\">August 01, 2018\u00a0<\/span><\/span>by\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.brennancenter.org\/expert\/rachel-levinson-waldman\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Brennan Center for Justice<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-subtitle field--type-text-long field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<div>\n<h4>Behind the growing chorus calling for eliminating U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"field-wrapper-authors\" class=\"field-wrapper content-container clearfix inline-fields\">\n<div class=\"grouping-prefix\">by\u00a0<span class=\"pb-byline\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/haley-hinkle\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Haley Hinkle<\/a><\/span><span class=\"grouping-spacer\">,\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"pb-byline\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/rachel-levinson-waldman\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rachel Levinson-Waldman<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"shr_canvas2\" class=\"shareaholic-canvas shareaholic-ui shareaholic-resolved-canvas ng-scope\" data-app-id=\"6840209\" data-app-id-name=\"views_article_above_content\" data-app=\"share_buttons\" data-title=\"The Abolish ICE Movement Explained\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/views\/2018\/08\/01\/abolish-ice-movement-explained\" data-summary=\"\">\n<div class=\"ng-scope shareaholic-share_buttons\" translate=\"no\">\n<div class=\"shareaholic-share-buttons-container shareaholic-ui shr-no-print shareaholic-flat shareaholic- shareaholic-block shareaholic-horizontal shareaholic-mini\">\n<div class=\"shareaholic-share-buttons-wrapper shareaholic-ui\">\n<div class=\"shareaholic-share-buttons-animation-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"shareaholic-share-button-container\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-article-img field--type-image field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"caption-processed\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/cd_large\/public\/views-article\/abolish_1000.jpeg?itok=KzXpi2Y0\" alt=\"&quot;Now some elected officials \u2014 all Democrats \u2014 are also calling for elimination or reform of ICE.&quot; (Photo: Ken Wolter\/Shutterstock.com)\" width=\"955\" height=\"500\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-main-caption field--type-text-long field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\n<p><em>&#8220;Now some elected officials \u2014 all Democrats \u2014 are also calling for elimination or reform of ICE.&#8221; (Photo: Ken Wolter\/Shutterstock.com)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>As the debate over family separation and reunification at the border continues, some are calling for the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Here\u2019s what you need to know about the movement.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is ICE, and what does it do?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, Congress\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/911hearings\/security_measures.html#homeland\">pressured<\/a>\u00a0the George W. Bush Administration to create a department responsible for domestic security. In 2002, Congress passed the Homeland Security Act, which abolished the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Congress transferred the functions of INS to three new agencies within the Department of Homeland Security: ICE, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). CBP is responsible for securing the border and the area within 100 miles of it (and is the agency actually carrying out family separations at the border), and USCIS processes requests for immigration benefits, such as naturalization applications and asylum requests.<\/p>\n<p>ICE has two primary divisions: Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). ERO enforces immigration laws, including detaining and removing the people violating them. HSI investigates international criminal operations and organizations, including the illegal trade of goods, weapons, and drugs, and the smuggling or trafficking of people into the U.S. ICE has 400 offices in the U.S. and in 46 countries.<\/p>\n<p>ICE has had a turbulent history. Various bodies have\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/qz.com\/1316098\/what-is-ice-supposed-to-do-the-strange-history-of-us-immigration-and-customs-enforcement\/\">questioned<\/a>\u00a0ICE\u2019s necessity as a standalone agency, including the conservative Heritage Foundation and DHS\u2019s own inspector general. Still, the agency\u2019s funding and its work have grown substantially. In its latest budget, Congress approved\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/115\/bills\/hr1625\/BILLS-115hr1625enr.pdf\">$6.9 billion<\/a>\u00a0in appropriations for ICE, up from\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/cmsny.org\/publications\/virtualbrief-detention\/\">$3.6 billion<\/a>\u00a0in 2005, the first year an ICE budget was enacted.\u00a0According to the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/cmsny.org\/publications\/virtualbrief-detention\/\">Center for Migration Studies<\/a>, the average number of immigrants ICE detains daily has nearly doubled, from just over 21,000 in 2003 to over 38,000 in 2017.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why is there a backlash against the agency?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Under President Trump, ICE appears to have taken the gloves off. While actual deportation numbers are\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.economist.com\/united-states\/2017\/12\/14\/donald-trump-is-deporting-fewer-people-than-barack-obama-did\">lower so far<\/a>\u00a0than under President Obama, who oversaw a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/2018\/6\/21\/17488458\/obama-immigration-policy-family-separation-border\">record-breaking<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dhs.gov\/immigration-statistics\/yearbook\/2016\/table39\">number<\/a>\u00a0of deportations, the number of ICE\u00a0<em>arrests\u00a0<\/em>has\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2018\/02\/23\/politics\/trump-immigration-arrests-deportations\/index.html\">increased<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ice.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/Report\/2017\/iceEndOfYearFY2017.pdf\">rising 42 percent<\/a>\u00a0between 2016 and 2017. Because the arrests are particularly visible, they have generated attention and outrage.<\/p>\n<p>More importantly, Trump has returned to a policy that Obama originally embraced but ultimately repudiated: treating any undocumented immigrant as a priority for removal. For the first six years of his presidency, Obama oversaw a program called\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.latimes.com\/local\/california\/la-me-1121-immigration-justice-20141121-story.html\">Secure Communities<\/a>, under which undocumented persons booked into jail on any criminal charges were held until they could be picked up by ICE. In 2014, Obama\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dhs.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/publications\/14_1120_memo_secure_communities.pdf\">changed course<\/a>\u00a0to focus on immigrants guilty of serious crimes. During the 2016 campaign, Trump trafficked in\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/time.com\/4473972\/donald-trump-mexico-meeting-insult\/\">anti-immigrant<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/trump-mexicans-rapists-remark-reference-2018-4\">rhetoric<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/the-fix\/wp\/2016\/11\/13\/donald-trump-plans-to-immediately-deport-2-to-3-million-undocumented-immigrants\/?utm_term=.a364bbf809c9\">promised<\/a>\u00a0to deport millions of undocumented immigrants; sure enough, in January 2017, the president issued an\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/executive-order-enhancing-public-safety-interior-united-states\/\">executive order<\/a>\u00a0again prioritizing removal of anyone who had entered the country illegally. ICE\u2019s acting director\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/entry\/ice-arrests-undocumented_us_594027c0e4b0e84514eebfbe\">ominously warned<\/a>\u00a0undocumented immigrants: \u201cYou should look over your shoulder, and you need to be worried.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This new attitude is displayed in ICE\u2019s increasing use of decades-old misdemeanors as grounds for arrest of even long-time U.S. residents, appearing to focus particularly on nationals from Latin American and Muslim-majority countries. In California, for instance, a Mexican national who became a legal resident in 1988\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/06\/17\/us\/legal-resident-arrested.html\">was detained on his front lawn<\/a>\u00a0because of a misdemeanor domestic violence charge from 2001.<\/p>\n<p>ICE has also arrested people at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bostonglobe.com\/metro\/2018\/03\/15\/ice-arrests-courthouses-are-disrupting-justice-two-lawsuits-claim\/N7IhXiHlEuw3Qdz1XDlt4I\/story.html\">courthouses<\/a>\u00a0more frequently. In January, the agency\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ice.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/documents\/Document\/2018\/ciEnforcementActionsCourthouses.pdf\">announced a new policy<\/a>\u00a0that would limit courthouse arrests. The directive says agents should avoid noncriminal courts such as family and small claims courts, but ICE officers have since arrested\u00a0victims of domestic violence\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.charlotteobserver.com\/news\/local\/crime\/article215232500.html\">seeking protective orders<\/a>.\u00a0Advocates say\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2018\/05\/04\/crimes-tougher-to-prosecute-due-to-immigrant-fears-says-aclu-report.html\">domestic violence complaints\u00a0<\/a>in immigrant communities have decreased as a result.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Who wants the agency abolished, and what does #AbolishICE really mean?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In the spring of 2018, the Abolish ICE movement began to shift from a hashtag to a more formal stance. Political commentator Sean McElwee \u2014 who was the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/c1e1397a-7bb6-11e8-bc55-50daf11b720d\">first to tweet<\/a>\u201c#AbolishICE\u201d in February 2017 \u2014 wrote a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/its-time-to-abolish-ice\/\">piece<\/a>about the movement\u00a0in March for The Nation. Chardo Richardson, who is campaigning for a Florida House seat, made abolishing ICE part of the platform for the Brand New Congress PAC in a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/brandnewcongress.org\/immigration-platform-announcement\/\">February post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Recently the movement gained new momentum because of the surprise June New York City Democratic primary victory of House candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who calls for ICE\u2019s abolition. The family separation catastrophe \u2014 though executed by CBP \u2013 has put added pressure on ICE, which has become the poster child for DHS\u2019s excesses.<\/p>\n<p>Now some elected officials \u2014 all Democrats \u2014 are also calling for elimination or reform of ICE:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) have spoken out in favor of the movement generally.<\/li>\n<li>Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) has introduced legislation to abolish ICE.<\/li>\n<li>Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) has called for a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzfeed.com\/mollyhensleyclancy\/kamala-harris-abolish-ice?utm_term=.qin1Pg9mE2#.rwGoaD5myV\">complete overhaul<\/a>\u201d\u00a0but not abolition.<\/li>\n<li>Eighty-three House Democrats\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/gutierrez.house.gov\/sites\/gutierrez.house.gov\/files\/wysiwyg_uploaded\/031318%20Letter%20to%20Leadership%20re%20OMNI_FINAL%20%28with%20signatures%29.pdf\">signed a March letter<\/a>\u00a0to the leadership of the Appropriations Committee asking for funding cuts to the agencies.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>While Trump has tweeted that Abolish ICE supporters favor open borders, no high-profile backer has called for that.<\/p>\n<p>ICE agents themselves have appealed to DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen for an overhaul of the agency. In June, 19 special agents in charge at ICE\u2019s HSI division\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.texasobserver.org\/ice-hsi-letter-kirstjen-nielsen-criminal-civil-deportation-zero-tolerance\/\">wrote to Nielsen<\/a>\u00a0saying differences between the goals and functions of HSI and ERO are so great that the two should be split into separate agencies. The plea suggests that the backlash against the U.S. arrests and deportations are having an impact on transnational work as well.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What would be the impact of abolishing ICE?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If ICE were abolished, other parts of the government would likely take up some of the agency\u2019s responsibilities. In his\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/115th-congress\/house-bill\/6361\/text\">legislation<\/a>\u00a0to abolish ICE, Rep. Pocan proposes examining the agency\u2019s functions to determine how some capabilities \u2014 like investigations of gang violence, drug and human trafficking, and organized crime (most of which fall to HSI) \u2014 could be transferred to other agencies. ICE\u2019s role removing immigrants who have committed significant crimes is also likely to remain important.<\/p>\n<p>In theory, a significantly streamlined or restructured ICE could refocus on priority removals. However, given the strongly anti-immigrant orientation of both ICE leadership and the rank and file, such an overhaul would have to be significant \u2014 and begin with the agency\u2019s top leadership \u2014 to have a chance of addressing the movement\u2019s concerns.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"field-wrapper-copyright-cond\" class=\"field-wrapper content-container clearfix\">\n<div class=\"field field--name-field-copyright field--type-text field--label-hidden\">\n<div class=\"field__items\">\n<div class=\"field__item even\">\u00a9 2018 Brennan Center for Justice<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>August 01, 2018\u00a0by\u00a0Brennan Center for Justice Behind the growing chorus calling for eliminating U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement by\u00a0Haley Hinkle,\u00a0Rachel Levinson-Waldman &#8220;Now some elected officials \u2014 all Democrats \u2014 are also calling for elimination or reform of ICE.&#8221; (Photo: Ken Wolter\/Shutterstock.com) As the debate over family separation and reunification at&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2018\/08\/02\/the-abolish-ice-movement-explained\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9291"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9291"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9294,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9291\/revisions\/9294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}