Dem Consultants Worry “Abolish ICE” Is the New “Defund the Police”

Following the death of an anti-ICE activist in Minneapolis over the weekend, calls to “Abolish ICE” have grown louder than ever. But Democrat consultants are privately worried that the left’s new favorite slogan could become an electoral anchor like “Defund the Police” did in 2021 and 2022.

Throughout the country, the new litmus test for the Democrat base is who can be the most vocally opposed to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Liberal candidates are going to increasingly radical and hysterical lengths to prove their fealty to illegal alien populations, threatening to arrest and prosecute ICE officers for doing their job. Senate Democrats are now even threatening to partially shut down the government if Republicans don’t remove ICE funding from a must-pass bill.

As Politico recently reported, “From Michigan to Illinois to New Jersey, progressive candidates are renewing calls to ‘abolish ICE.’” These leftist candidates are “defying centrists who are warning Democrats to stay away from a phrase they believe was politically poisonous in 2024 and could be again in 2026.” The Wall Street Journal has likewise noted that Democrats have an “Abolish ICE conundrum.”

In Minnesota, Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan is basing her campaign for an open Senate seat on her intense opposition to immigration enforcement. She told Politico that the Senate race is about selecting a candidate “who sticks to their values and truths” instead of “someone who votes with Republicans and Donald Trump when it’s politically expedient.”

The “politically expedient” vote Flanagan referenced was a bipartisan resolution condemning an antisemitic terrorist attack by an illegal alien from Egypt in Colorado and thanking ICE for “protecting the homeland.” Governor Tim Walz’s second in command attacked her primary opponent, Democrat Rep. Angie Craig, for supporting this resolution and the bipartisan Laken Riley Act.

That law, passed in 2025 within days of Trump returning to office, “mandates that individuals remain in ICE custody until their removal from the United States, preventing them from reoffending and continuing to victimize Americans,” as AMAC Newsline previously reported. AMAC members played a notable role in urging Congress to pass the legislation.

Craig, clearly feeling the pressure from her left flank, has now sought to distance herself from those common-sense votes and instead become a vocal critic of ICE agents, comparing them to Nazis.

The same dynamic is playing out in Illinois in another contested battle to replace retiring Senator Dick Durbin. Democrat Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton has lobbed attacks at primary opponent Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi over his vote to thank ICE agents. In response, Krishnamoorthi “quickly backed” a bill to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

In the House, Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI), an Indian immigrant, has formalized the “Abolish ICE” mantra, introducing a bill to dismantle the agency, calling it “beyond reform.” Support for that effort has poured in from Democrat enclaves throughout the country, including from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Ugandan migrant, who recently said on “The View” that “I am in favor of abolishing ICE.”

Piling hatred on federal agents who are removing rapists, murderers, and thieves from the streets may curry favor with primary voters in Chicago and Minneapolis. But Democrat consultants are increasingly worried that the strategy could backfire in a general election.

Third Way, a centrist Democratic think tank, called abolishing ICE “emotionally satisfying” but “politically lethal.”

The think tank, in a noteworthy memo, said Democrats are going to lose their chance to reform the law enforcement agency if they are too extreme. The consultants worry this is a repeat of how “Defund the Police” harmed the party in recent elections.

“It would be a tragedy built upon a tragedy if Democratic overreach allowed the inexcusable killing of Renee Good at the hands of ICE to be used to the advantage of Donald Trump and a Republican Party that is sympathetic to its excesses,” the think tank argued. “Republicans understand this.” They point to a successful 2024 campaign by Republicans to unseat Democrats who supported abolishing ICE. The former chief of staff to Senator John Fetterman (D-PA), who now runs a think tank, issued the same warning to his Democrat peers.

“Abolish ICE is similar to Defund in that it is the least popular item on a list of otherwise very aggressive reforms that the public would support,” Adam Jentleson told political news site Puck. He said his party should talk about reforming ICE, not abolishing it.

As he explained, voters hear the phrase “Abolish ICE” and believe it means an end to all immigration enforcement (which is what abolishing “Immigration and Customs Enforcement” would entail). “Support for ICE specifically might toggle up and down, but Americans are never going to want to stop seeing real enforcement of immigration laws,” Jentleson warned.

History would suggest that Democrats have a good chance of making gains in this November’s midterm elections. But if Republicans can defy the “midterm curse,” it could well be thanks to Democrats’ self-defeating embrace of “Abolish ICE” messaging.

AMAC Newsline contributor Matt Lamb is an associate editor for The College Fix. He previously worked for Students for Life of America, Students for Life Action, and Turning Point USA. He previously interned for Open the Books. His writing has also appeared in the Washington Examiner, The Federalist, LifeSiteNews, Human Life Review, Headline USA, and other outlets. The opinions expressed are his own. Follow him @mattlamb22 on X.