The Democratic National Committee adopted a resolution Saturday urging congressional Democrats to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, alongside a competing measure calling only for reforms to the agency, at the party's summer meeting in Austin, Texas.
Resolution 27 cleared the DNC's Resolutions Committee on Thursday in a 25-12 vote with one abstention before heading to the full membership. Both resolutions were bundled into a larger package and approved by the full membership on a unanimous voice vote, according to the Washington Times. The vote is nonbinding and does not change the party platform for 2028.
The reform measure, sponsored by DNC Chairman Ken Martin, drew broader support in committee than the abolition proposal.
What the Right Is Saying
The White House criticized the action. Spokeswoman Lauren Bis told Newsweek on Saturday: "Extreme radical Democrats want to abolish ICE and defund the police. Instead of trying to abolish ICE, Democrats should be thanking ICE law enforcement officers for putting their lives on the line to arrest and remove murderers, rapists, pedophiles, and gang members from American communities. Many of these criminals were released from jails by Democrat radical politicians."
Bis added that President Trump's efforts to remove criminal illegal aliens from American communities "is already delivering results including the lowest murder rate in 125 years."
DNC member Yvonne Reeves-Chong voted against the abolition measure, saying it would win over only part of the party's base while drawing fire from another group of voters. "I would strongly suggest we get to the business of winning races so we can make the policies that make a difference," she said.
Earlier this year, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer stopped short of calling for ICE's elimination while demanding reforms such as banning face coverings for agents, requiring visible identification, and restricting enforcement near schools and churches.
What the Left Is Saying
Michele Johnson, a DNC member from Louisiana who proposed the abolition measure, said Democrats need to take a clear position, pointing to the dissolution of ICE's predecessor agency, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, as precedent. "I think one of the reasons why people are not trusting the party is because we sound so academic," she told the Associated Press. "We sound focus group tested, we sound poll tested because we're worried about saying the wrong thing or doing the wrong thing and not just like, just stand on business, like take a position."
DNC Chairman Ken Martin said Democrats remain united in opposing the administration's enforcement approach even as they split over what should replace it. "Our official party positions are determined at the convention every four years in our platform," he said in a statement to Newsweek. "However, clearly, 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. There has to be a better way."
The resolution calls for closing detention facilities, releasing most immigration detainees, expanding civil rights oversight, and terminating contracts with private detention providers.
What the Numbers Show
Polling suggests voters are focused elsewhere. Marquette Law School's most recent national survey, released August 5, found inflation and the cost of living ranked as the top issue for 35% of adults, with immigration and border security at just 5 percent — down from 14 percent in January.
The same poll found Trump's overall approval had risen to 40 percent, his first uptick in a Marquette survey this term. Border security was the only issue on which he cleared 50 percent approval.
ICE itself remains unpopular. A Marquette survey conducted in late January found 40 percent of adults approved of the agency's job performance while 60 percent disapproved. However, among the 56 percent who favored deporting illegal immigrants, 65 percent approved of ICE's conduct.
In July, border czar Tom Homan said ICE was on schedule to set arrest records for a second consecutive month and described the push as "deportation-maxxing."
The Bottom Line
The vote comes amid internal party debates over immigration policy ahead of midterm elections as President Trump expands deportation efforts. While the resolution is nonbinding, it signals a shift in official DNC posture toward abolition rather than reform.
The measure reflects Democratic divisions on how to address enforcement. Supporters argue for taking a clear position against current practices, while critics warn it could alienate swing voters without guaranteeing electoral gains. The bundled passage of both abolition and reform measures suggests the party is attempting to hold together a broad coalition with differing views on immigration.
What happens next: Congressional Democrats are not required to act on the resolution. Any legislation to dissolve ICE would need significant support in both chambers, which appears unlikely given current political alignments.