House Dem compares Trump's illegal immigration crackdown to 'terrorism,' vows to abolish ICE

By Fox News · Fox News

Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., compared U.S. enforcement of immigration law to "terrorism" during a Saturday town hall and promised to dismantle the chief U.S. immigration enforcement agency if Democrats regained power. "The frank terrorism that is being invoked – when we call that out and stand together, I think people will continue to not want to do that work," Dexter told an audience at Wy'east Middle School in Oregon. "I’m not supposed to get political, but if there’s a change in political will, then we can absolutely dismantle and abolish ICE altogether," Dexter said, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Dexter, a freshman progressive lawmaker, is one of many Democrats who have called for reforms to the agency in the wake of public unrest in Minnesota over President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. JEFFRIES CLASHES WITH LEFT-WING PODCAST HOST OVER DEMAND TO LEAD PUSH TO 'ABOLISH ICE' When two civilians in Minneapolis were shot and killed in separate confrontations with immigration officials in January, Dexter was among the first lawmakers who promised to vote against any spending legislation for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that didn’t also include major reforms to ICE, which operates under DHS. Although the vast majority of Democrats eventually adopted Dexter’s stance over DHS funding, the idea first began as a position held by the Congressional Progressive Caucus and was championed by members like Reps. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn. PROGRESSIVE DEM JASMINE CROCKETT TARGETS TRUMP DEPORTATION FLIGHTS WITH NEW 'TRACK ICE' BILL Gridlock over DHS funding has led to a partial government shutdown which began on Feb. 14, when Democrats in the Senate also refused to advance DHS funding over a set of 10 reforms to ICE. Among those demands, Democrats want to impose new operational limits to the agency, such as an end to roaming patrols, a ban on masks, a requirement for visible identification…