DNC votes to back eliminating ICE in sharp rebuke of Trump’s immigration crackdown

WASHINGTON, DC: The Democratic National Committee has now passed a resolution calling on Congress to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, placing the party in direct conflict with President Donald Trump, since his administration is carrying out an aggressive campaign in the area of immigration enforcement.

The resolution, which was approved at the DNC's summer meeting in Austin, Texas, on Saturday, asks lawmakers to go further than reforming ICE and instead abolish the agency's current immigration enforcement system. It calls on Congress to bring to an end the federal immigration detention system, limit funding for the Department of Homeland Security provided that certain enforcement activities are discontinued, and cancel the contracts with private detention providers.

Democrats push to abolish ICE

The resolution calls on Democratic members of Congress to enact legislation dissolving ICE and winding down the immigration detention system.

It also calls for restricting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding unless certain enforcement activities end, including workplace raids, mass roundups, arrests at courthouses, arrests at ICE check-ins, enforcement actions near schools and houses of worship, and other operations, as well as terminating contracts with private detention providers.

DNC chair Ken Martin emphasized that official party platforms are established every four years at the national convention, while noting that Democrats remain united in opposing the administration's current approach to border and immigration enforcement.

"Our official party positions are determined at the convention every four years in our platform," Martin said in a statement to Newsweek. "However, clearly, the one thing that unites Democrats, regardless of their position on reform versus abolish or whatever other ways to change what's happening, is people believe that what ICE is doing right now and CBP [US Customs and Border Protection] and the federal government should stop. There has to be a better way."

Trump points to immigration crackdown

The DNC action comes as Trump continues to defend his administration’s sweeping immigration crackdown, an issue that helped propel him back to the White House in 2024.

The White House sharply criticized the DNC action, with spokeswoman Lauren Bis telling Newsweek on Saturday, "Extreme radical Democrats want to abolish ICE and defund the police. Instead of trying to abolish ICE, Democrats should be thanking ICE law enforcement officers for putting their lives on the line to arrest and remove murderers, r*****s, p********s, and gang members from American communities. Many of these criminals were released from jails by Democrat radical politicians. President Trump's efforts to remove criminal illegal aliens from American communities is already delivering results, including the lowest murder rate in 125 years."

Earlier this month, Trump said his administration’s efforts to secure the border had been so successful that Americans no longer worried about the issue.

The administration has also pointed to the number of deportations. In July, the Department of Homeland Security said 356,389 illegal immigrants were deported during fiscal year 2026.

Democrats have sharpened their attacks on how federal immigration agents are conducting arrests and deportations as the White House has touted the enforcement campaign as a promise kept by Trump during his campaign.

That makes the DNC’s newest resolution a clear political line. The Democratic Party is instructing its members in Congress to advocate for the agency’s abolition, while Trump is doubling down on immigration enforcement and backing up ICE.