Kerri Wants to Abolish ICE, Carper Voted to Confirm
On a roasting summer day on June 28th, 2018 Kerri Evelyn Harris was arrested while protesting migrant family detentions and calling for the abolishment of ICE. Democrats such as Rep. Pramila Jayapal were also arrested and other Democratic Senators such as Kirsten Gillibrand attended the rally.
On a warm winter night on December 5th, 2017 in Washington D.C., Sen. Tom Carper voted to confirm Kirstjen Nielsen to oversee ICE in her role as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Nearly all other Senate Democrats voted against her.
Nielsen is the same individual who now oversees the human rights abuses being committed against children and families along our southern border.
Kerri has repeatedly said that what ICE is doing is immoral and contrary to the values of our country. Kerri would have voted NO on confirming Kirstjen Nielsen and has since called for her immediate resignation.
But Kerri thinks that even this is not enough. She believes we need to abolish ICE.
Why? Let’s review ICE’s history.
Did you know ICE, which stands for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is actually a relatively new agency? It started in 2003 and began with the goal to move “toward a 100 [percent] rate of removal for all removable aliens…[to allow] ICE to provide the level of immigration enforcement necessary to keep America secure.”
From the very beginning ICE has been about deportation.
Sen. Carper actually voted in favor of the 2002 Homeland Security Act which gave the Bush Administration the power to grant ICE a “unique combination of civil and criminal authorities to better protect national security…”
By 2013 the U.S. started “spending more money on immigration enforcement than all other federal criminal law enforcement agencies combined.”
ICE also has a history of human rights abuses.
These are just a few of the reasons why Kerri wants to abolish ICE.
Kerri believes we need a just and affordable path to citizenship for immigrants. Right now it’s prohibitively expensive and can take years to go through the process.
We need action now and Kerri’s fighting for swift changes to our immigration system that keep families together and improve our economy for all workers.
