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Reforms Didn't End Police Violence in 2020 and They Won't End ICE Violence Now
We can't settle for 'reforming' the largest law enforcement agency in the nation — it must be abolished.
Published on Feb. 26, 2026
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Escalating opposition to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles, and beyond is pushing renewed debate within the Democratic Party about Donald Trump's war on immigrants. However, the Democratic leadership's proposed ICE reforms, such as requiring agents to wear body cameras and follow a code of conduct, are seen as a repackaging of immigration enforcement to maintain the status quo. The article argues that just as police reforms failed to stop police violence, ICE reforms will not end the agency's deadly regime, and that the only way forward is to defund and abolish ICE.
Why it matters
The article highlights that ICE is now the largest law enforcement agency in the nation, with a $170 billion increase in funding over the next four years, cementing the centrality of immigration enforcement to the infrastructure of the U.S. state. It also notes that the wielding of immigration policy as a tool of state repression against Palestine solidarity activists should not be overlooked. The article argues that resisting 287(g) agreements, which allow local law enforcement to be deputized as immigration authorities, is a vital site of immigration justice organizing.
The details
The article outlines how the Democratic leadership's proposed ICE reforms, such as requiring agents to wear body cameras and follow a code of conduct, are a repackaging of immigration enforcement to maintain the status quo. It argues that these reforms are similar to the Democrats' response to the 2020 uprisings against police violence, where they pushed for training and oversight as the pragmatic answer to stopping police-perpetrated killings. The article also notes that despite these reforms, police-perpetrated killings in the U.S. have only grown since 2020.
- Under Trump, the number of local law enforcement agencies participating in 287(g) task force agreements has grown almost 40 percent since his return to office.
- ICE's actual manpower stands at 35,000 officers, with the record growth of ICE from 10,000 to 22,000 agents over the past year, and upwards of 13,000 local law enforcement officers now deputized as ICE agents.
The players
Chuck Schumer
Senate Minority Leader.
Troy Carter
Democratic Congressman.
Naomi Murakawa
African American Studies Professor.
Delia Ramirez
Representative who developed the Melt ICE Act in collaboration with immigration justice organizations.
What they’re saying
“The problem isn't 'training.' DHS was built to violate our rights.”
— Rep. Delia C. Ramirez (Truthout)
The takeaway
Rather than allowing Democrats to exceptionalize this moment as an aberration by the Trump regime, we must stay clear-eyed about what is new or different right now without forgetting the broader structures and ideologies that gave rise to this crisis. Resisting 287(g) agreements and taking on ICE terror in this moment requires taking on state violence in all its forms, not just pushing for milquetoast policies that reify immigration jails and deportation as 'good governance'.
