Progressive Democrat Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York has reignited a debate by renewing her call to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in a recent fundraising email, drawing sharp condemnation from Republicans and a direct challenge from the White House.
In the email, obtained by Fox News Digital, Ocasio-Cortez stated, “I believe that ICE, an agency that was just formed in 2003 during the Patriot Act era, is a rogue agency that should not exist.” This position remains a rallying cry for some progressive factions critical of federal immigration policies.
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), the campaign arm for House Republicans, slammed Ocasio-Cortez, a potential 2028 presidential candidate.
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NRCC Spokesman Mike Marinella told Fox News Digital, “House Democrat Minority Leader AOC is doubling down on their party’s most extreme, unhinged agenda, while the rest of her party is bending their knee to the radical wing. At this rate, the Democrat platform in 2026 will be a fever dream of defunding the police, wide open borders, and far-left hellscapes.”
In her fundraising email, Ocasio-Cortez addressed the perception of her views, asking, “Why are you considered to be extreme?” She listed several of her well-known positions as reasons, including her support for Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, challenging Democratic Party leadership, her belief in “democratic socialism,” being funded by small-dollar donations, and her conviction that ICE should “not exist.”
The call to dismantle ICE is not isolated to Ocasio-Cortez within the progressive wing. David Hogg, DNC vice chair, known for his activism, has also reportedly called to “abolish ICE.”
On the flip side, proponents of ICE emphasize its role in law enforcement. ICE “arrested 66,463 illegal immigrants and removed 65,682” during “the first 100 days of Trump’s second term.”
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According to the White House, three in four of these arrests involved individuals accused of committing a crime.
“AOC, Democrat Party leader, calls for abolishing ICE. Meanwhile, the brave men and women of ICE get dangerous criminal illegal immigrants off our streets and protect American citizens. Why does AOC want to stop that?” said White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson.
“While President Donald J. Trump, his administration, and the heroes of ICE work overtime to rid our country of criminal illegal immigrant killers, rapists, and gangbangers, top Democrats are doubling down on their call to eliminate the agency responsible for getting these animals off our streets,” the White House said in a statement.
House Speaker Mike Johnson chimed in on X Wednesday, saying, “Democrats still want to CLOSE DOWN ICE and OPEN UP our borders. It’s not going to happen. Under President Trump, our border is SECURE once again, and with the One Big Beautiful Bill, we’ll provide ICE with additional funding for 10,000 new ICE officers and more detention space.”
Ocasio-Cortez has been vocal about what she describes as a climate of fear, telling a crowd in Montana on Senator Bernie Sanders’ “Fighting Oligarchy” Tour: “We are watching as our neighbors, students and friends are being fired, targeted and disappeared…Our co-workers, U.S. citizens and immigrants alike are being disappeared off the street by men in vans with no uniform.”
Public opinion on immigration remains a key political factor and a contentious debate among Americans..
A Fox News Voter Analysis in 2024 found that 52% of voters believed Trump was the better candidate to handle immigration, compared to 36% for Harris. Immigration was ranked as the most important issue by 20% of voters in that analysis.
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