The Democratic National Committee approved a resolution on Saturday calling on Democratic lawmakers to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, escalating the party’s opposition to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
The resolution, first reported by Newsweek, goes “beyond calls for reform” and urges Congress to “enact legislation abolishing ICE, wind down the immigration detention system, restrict Department of Homeland Security funding unless certain enforcement activities end, and terminate contracts with private detention providers”.
DNC Chair Ken Martin said the resolution reflects that “the one thing that unites Democrats, regardless of their position on reform versus abolish or whatever other ways to change what’s happening, is people believe that what ICE is doing right now, and CBP and the federal government should stop”.
The Enforcement Surge
Since returning to office, Trump has made deportations and immigration enforcement central pillars of his administration. Federal agencies have moved away from prioritizing individuals with violent criminal records, widening the “net of enforcement” to include any undocumented individual.
White House border czar Tom Homan has reinforced plans for mass deportations. “If you think last year’s historic number is good, wait till next year, and we have 10,000 more agents on the border,” Homan said at the Border Security Expo. “Mass deportations are coming”.
The administration has carried out 477,277 removals from January 2025 through April 2026. Immigration officers now make about 1,200 arrests a day.
Inside the Strategy
NPR has identified five key strategies in the administration’s approach: providing historic funding for immigration enforcement, stripping legal pathways, reshaping immigration courts, expanding detention infrastructure, and eliminating pathways to legal status.
The Executive Office for Immigration Review has begun replacing civilian judges with those from military backgrounds, stripping judges of discretion to close low-priority cases. The window to appeal a deportation order has been slashed from 30 days to just 10-20 days.
ICE is expanding its physical presence across the US, opening co-working spaces in more than 40 states. Texas will receive the most, with 49 personnel deployed.
The Human Cost
An Associated Press investigation found that at least 50 parents and spouses of active-duty US service members have been detained by immigration officers following rollbacks in protections for military families. Service members said potential immigration protections played a role in their decision to enlist.
A federal judge cleared the way for the administration to strip nearly 1,100 Somalis of Temporary Protected Status protections, following a Supreme Court ruling allowing the administration to end similar protections for Haitians and Syrians.
The Supreme Court upheld the constitutional right to birthright citizenship in June, rebuking a Trump executive order meant to end it.
The Economic Impact
Businesses across the country are feeling the effects. A UCLA study found that establishments across nine enforcement sites in Los Angeles County experienced about 46,000 fewer visits and approximately $3.16 million in losses within two weeks of enforcement activities. Ninety-five percent of Latino business owners reported continued financial stress almost a year after the crackdown began.
Research from the Wharton School found 8.1 billion fewer visits to businesses and as much as a $14 billion decrease in retail spending across metropolitan areas targeted by immigration enforcement operations.
