ICE is about to melt down
The elections this November in the United States turn into an all-out on both sides. Each party wants to win voters and of course they are appealing to all kinds of proposals to achieve it. One of the key issues that could tip the balance to one side or another is the one regarding emigration. The Democrats have made the first step by proposing the abolition of Immigration Customs Enforcement. The proposed law aims to eliminate that federal service that, according to Democrats, has become the force of mass deportation destroying the moral fabric of the country. Democratic representative Mark Pocan, main sponsor of the proposal have made some statements.
"This is where the popular support is", Pocan said, a frank and open statement that exposes the intentions of conquering electorate on the part of the Democrats. Some analysts believe Democrats could gain control of the House of Representatives and probably of the Senate too.
"Unfortunately, President Trump and his team of white nationalists, including Stephen Miller, have abused ICE so much that the agency can no longer effectively meet its objectives", Mark Pocan said while presenting his initiative. "This is something I've been thinking about for several months, ICE has a long history of cruelty, and the recent separation of families is just one example", Pocan explained.
Other candidates for the Congress, such as Latino-descent Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have agreed on the call to close the agency. During an interview granted to The Intercept, Ocasio-Cortez was concerned on the fact that ICE belongs to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and therefore, it "does not respond to the Department of Justice", which makes ICE dangerously powerful.
However, not all Democrat politicians value the need to abolish ICE but its modus operandi. Kristen Rosen Gonzalez, Miami Beach Commissioner, told El Nuevo Herald that if elected, she will not withdraw the funds to the service.
Meanwhile Donna Shalala, who competes for Ros-Lehtinen’s seat, argued: "Instead of abolishing ICE, we must abolish the evil policies of Trump". "The immoral policies of the Trump government and those that the president has appointed to lead the ICE are the main problem, not the agency and its thousands of employees", she said to El Nuevo Herald as well.
On the other hand, an analyst like Miguel Tinker Salas, a professor of History and Latin American Studies at Pomona College in California, explains that lawmakers and candidates have also begun to understand the power and money that this federal agency has accumulated in recent years.
The issue of emigration and the behavior of the president and federal forces are strongly affecting several states of the union such as Florida, Arizona, California and Texas. It is true that the upcoming November elections could have their turning point in the coming months if the Trump administration does not soften its anti-immigration position.
ICE still have to solve the dilemma of the reunification with their parents of more than 2000 emigrant children, and faces the humanitarian situation caused in the context of the capture of emigrants on the border and the breakdown of family nuclei.
However, the retrograde Republicans, like the head of the House of Representatives, the Republican Paul Ryan, consider absurd and crazy the proposal of the opposition party to abolish ICE. Although it is true that on the one hand several states support the easing of the immigration issue, in other ones Donald Trump and his policy are openly supported. Maybe that's why Paul Ryan commented that the Democrats’ plan makes him "feel very good" in relation to the elections on November.
The strategy used by the Republicans resembles the Roman maxim "divide and conquer". Therefore, they put the Democratic proposal to the vote aiming at shaming and dividing the Democrats. "It's the craziest position I've seen, and they're just bumping into each other so they will go too far to the left", Ryan told reporters on this regard. "They are outside the United States’ mainstream, and that is one of the reasons why I have no fear for this fall."
Paul Ryan’s point of view is that the proposal to eliminate ICE will go nowhere since Republicans so far are those who dominate the House of Representatives, a fact that could be reversed if Trump’s stubbornness continues.
Democrats believe, like many sectors of the U.S. population, ICE has become the repressive arm of the Trump administration. They believe that the agency is synonymous with aggression and human rights’ violation, determined to respond to Donald Trump’s will that seeks for greater immigration control at the U.S. borders. In addition, ICE has been in charge of arresting and criminalizing DACA beneficiaries, who have been deported.
Despite the Republicans sees no evil, demonstrations to eliminate ICE have been increasing in the nation. Since June 17, several activists have demanded the Senate to eliminate the migration repressive organ and the cessation of the "zero tolerance" policy held by Jeff Sessions, head of the Department of Justice.
The Immigration Customs Services has been strongly criticized not only for causing the separation of families, but also for the use of invasive practices in all states as well as the constant raids in establishments and work centers in which the presence of undocumented persons is suspected. Some people have even denominated it as the secret police of Trump’s administration, somehow Hitler’s SS, since they have criminalized emigration.