DETROIT (WWJ) -- A Detroit-area Congressman is making a push to dismantle the federal agency in charge of immigration enforcement.
U.S. Representative Shri Thanedar, a Democrat, says he is introducing the "Abolish ICE Act" in Washington. The bill, if it were to become law, would end the enforcement authority of Immigration and Customs Enforcement — effectively shutting it down.
Thanedar said the agency is broken beyond repair, pointing to the recent shooting death of a 37-year-old woman in Minnesota.
“The tragic death of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, a 37-year-old mother fatally shot by an ICE agent, shows that ICE cannot be reformed and must be abolished. The Abolish ICE Act is a step toward justice, accountability, and a more humane approach to immigration policy.”
According to Thanedar, since ICE was established in 2003, legal experts have argued that its mission could be carried out more effectively and justly by other federal agencies. Rep. Thanedar contends that "decades of terror tactics" culminated in Good's killing, making clear ICE is not an organization bound by the rule of law.
“When an agency’s structure consistently produces harm instead of justice, there is no way to reform it. We must fundamentally change the way we approach immigration," Thanedar said.
Thanedar is the same Michigan rep. who last summer introduced articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, asserting that Trump has disregarded the judiciary, and encroached on the powers of Congress.
Thanedar's bill targeting ICE has virtually zero chance of becoming law, as it would almost certainly fail in the GOP-controlled House, and would not be signed by President Trump if it did make it to his desk.
This action came on Friday, Jan. 9, destinated by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as a day of a "Day of Unity" in remembrance of Renee Nicole Good.
Good was shot in her SUV in a residential neighborhood south of downtown Minneapolis, about a mile from where police killed George Floyd in 2020.
While federal officials contend that the ICE agent who shot Good was acting in self defense, and has legal immunity, an FBI investigation into the shooting is ongoing.
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