Skip navigation menu
Hero background image

ABOLISH ICE

Problem

ICE targets families, not criminals

  • Roughly 70 percent of people arrested by ICE have no criminal record.

  • In some regions, that number rises to 90 percent.

  • Most are workers, caregivers, parents, and longtime residents.

ICE wastes money

  • ICE + Border Patrol receive $29–31 billion per year.

  • Detention costs about $150 per person per day.

  • Community programs cost about $7 per day.

  • Detention spending is up 500% since 2001, with no proven safety benefit.

ICE breaks communities

  • ~16 million people live in mixed-status households.

  • Raids separate parents from their children and can lead to trauma, anxiety, and academic challenges.

  • Police chiefs across the country report crime reporting drops when ICE operates locally.

ICE fuels exploitation

  • Raids remove workers but leave abusive employers untouched.

  • Impacts farming, hospitality, construction, and logistics.

  • Fear keeps wages low and abuse hidden.

ICE is redundant

  • CBP handles borders

  • USCIS handles visas

  • DOJ/FBI handle crime

  • ICE’s role overlaps with other agencies and serves primarily to enforce internal immigration laws.

Solutions

1. Phase out ICE enforcement

  • End ICE Enforcement & Removal Ops

  • Cancel private detention contracts.

  • Shift remaining admin functions to civilian agencies.

  • Outcome: No workplace/neighborhood raids, reduced duplication

2. Redirect ICE’s $8-9 billion to solutions that work

  • Expand immigration court staffing to cut the backlog.

  • Replace detention with case management (99 percent hearing compliance)

  • Fund housing, legal services, and asylum support

  • Outcome: Families stay together, cases move faster, costs drop dramatically

3. Modernize legal pathways

  • Work permits for asylum seekers and longtime residents.

  • Citizenship paths for Dreamers, DACA, TPS, and long-term community members

  • Expand visas for farmworkers, caregivers, and climate-displaced people.

  • Outcome: Stability for families and employers, less underground labor

4. Stop using fear as policy

  • End police-ICE collaboration

  • Protect schools, clinics, shelters, and churches as safe zones.

  • Stop data sharing that allows ICE to track families.

  • Outcome: Survivors report crimes, traffickers lose power, communities get safer

Bottom Line

Abolishing ICE:

  • Saves billions

  • Protects families

  • Strengthens communities

  • Respects due process

  • Improves public safety.

  • Adopting efficient legal systems and case management offers a more effective approach.