DNC approves competing resolutions as party struggles to define immigration enforcement policy ahead of November midterms
By Robeka Irfan I SCN NEWS DESK
AUSTIN, Texas — Democrats approved competing resolutions on Saturday calling for either the abolition or major reform of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, exposing a divide over immigration policy as the party seeks to capitalize on growing public criticism of President Donald Trump's enforcement crackdown ahead of November's midterm elections.
The Democratic National Committee, holding its summer meeting in Austin, approved one non-binding resolution calling for “concrete reforms” to ICE and another urging that the agency be abolished.
The votes do not establish the Democratic Party's official platform, which will be determined at its 2028 national convention, and Democratic candidates remain free to take their own positions.
But approving both measures underscores a growing disagreement between progressives who argue that ICE has become fundamentally incompatible with the party's immigration priorities and Democrats who believe dismantling the agency could hurt candidates in competitive congressional races.
The abolition proposal was introduced by Louisiana DNC member Michele Johnson, who argued that Democrats should take a clearer position rather than relying on carefully tested political language.
Johnson cited the dismantling of ICE's predecessor, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, when the Department of Homeland Security was created following the September 11 attacks.
The proposal encountered resistance from other committee members.
Yvonne Reeves-Chong, a DNC member from Ohio, opposed the abolition measure and warned that while it could appeal to one part of the Democratic coalition, it could expose the party to attacks from voters elsewhere.
She urged Democrats to focus on winning elections so they would have the power to implement immigration policy.
DNC Chairman Ken Martin sought to play down the disagreement, saying Democrats remained broadly united in believing the Trump administration's current immigration enforcement approach must change.
Martin said opposition extended beyond ICE to Customs and Border Protection and the broader federal enforcement operation, while acknowledging Democrats differed over whether ICE should be reformed, replaced or eliminated.
The debate has intensified after a series of confrontations involving federal immigration officers, including fatal encounters earlier this year that renewed Democratic scrutiny of ICE operations.
Calls to abolish the agency first became a significant progressive Democratic movement during Trump's first administration in 2018 but later faded as many party leaders resisted adopting the position nationally.
Trump's second-term immigration crackdown has brought the issue back to the centre of Democratic politics.
ICE has played a major role in the administration's expanded deportation campaign, while enforcement operations have generated protests and criticism over tactics used by federal agents.
Public attitudes toward the agency have also deteriorated.
A Marist poll conducted in February found 60% of Americans disapproved of the job ICE was doing, compared with 33% who approved.
The partisan divide was substantial: 91% of Democrats and 66% of independents disapproved, while 73% of Republicans approved of ICE's performance.
Trump's broader standing on immigration has also weakened.
An AP-NORC poll released this month found 39% of U.S. adults approved of Trump's handling of immigration, down from 49% at the beginning of his second term.
Immigration nevertheless remained a comparatively stronger issue for Trump than his handling of the economy or Iran, underscoring the political risk for Democrats if the midterm debate shifts from controversial enforcement tactics toward whether immigration enforcement should exist in its current institutional form.
The disagreement also reflects a broader struggle inside the Democratic Party between progressives seeking major structural policy changes and establishment figures focused on winning back congressional power.
Former DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe told Democrats gathered in Austin that the party should move beyond months of internal disputes and concentrate on the November elections, when Republicans will be defending narrow congressional majorities.
The DNC itself is facing organizational pressure as it prepares for those elections. The committee has more than $18 million in debt, while the Republican National Committee has substantially stronger cash reserves, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Immigration could nevertheless offer Democrats an opening if public opposition to Trump's enforcement methods continues to grow.
The difficulty will be deciding how far to take that opposition.
Reforming ICE could allow Democrats to campaign for tighter oversight, accountability and restrictions on enforcement practices while retaining a federal immigration enforcement agency.
Abolishing it would represent a much more fundamental restructuring and would give Republicans an opportunity to portray Democrats as unwilling to enforce immigration law.
Saturday's decision effectively leaves both options alive.
That may give individual Democratic candidates flexibility in their own races, but it also means the party enters the final months before the midterms without a single national position on one of the most contentious issues of Trump's second presidency.