"Abolish ICE" is a rallying cry that has been gathering support and momentum amongst politicians, activists, and even ICE agents themselves. Now, more than 100 state and locally elected officials have officially urged for the dissolution of the agency.
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In an open letter released on Tuesday, politicians from 20 states wrote that, "the experiment that is ICE has failed, and must be ended as soon as possible."
They went on to say that they are outraged by the Trump Administration's Zero Tolerance policy, which has separated over 2,000 families at the U.S. and Mexico border, and has denied immigrants asylum.
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They also wrote, "Now, more than ever, our country faces the greatest moral test of our time; we can choose to be complicit in this humanitarian crisis or we can step up and end family separation and mass incarceration. We join hundreds of thousands of Americans in calling on our federal government to immediately reunite all families who have been separated over the past two weeks, and to halt discretionless prosecutions for border crossing."
Representative Mark Pocan of Wisconsin has proposed an "Abolish ICE" bill. It is co-sponsored by Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington and Representative Adriano Espaillat of New York, both of whom are immigrants, The Washington Post reports. Pocan has said, "The ICE brand has been so damaged by the president that it can no longer accomplish its original mission. Even ICE agents recognize that ICE doesn't do what it was intended to do."
The open letter signed by over 100 officials addresses this bill, saying that the people who signed it are eager to see how it develops.
Read the entire letter here.Photo via Getty