Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., has introduced legislation that would dismantle most of the Department of Homeland Security, abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and eliminate Customs and Border Protection, prompting a public clash with DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin.
The bill, called the Reimagining Safety Act, would replace much of DHS with a new “Department of Community Safety.” It would preserve agencies including the Transportation Security Administration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Coast Guard, and customs functions. But it would abolish ICE and “begin the process of establishing a separate civil immigration system,” according to a release describing the legislation, and it would also end CBP, the agency responsible for border enforcement.
Mullin dismissed the proposal in blunt terms. “Radical leftists are calling to defund the police and abolish DHS. It’s NEVER going to happen. Our 270,000 DHS patriots are keeping Americans SAFE — unlike this open-borders politician who refuses to prioritize Americans over illegal aliens,” he told Fox News Digital.
A DHS spokesperson went further, saying Ramirez “should be thanking our law enforcement for removing these dangerous criminals from her district — NOT vilifying law enforcement,” and argued that “this type of rhetoric is contributing to a more than 1,300% increase in assaults against them as they put their lives on the line.”
DHS provided Fox News Digital with a list of immigrants in the country illegally who were arrested in Illinois, including Bulgarian national Rumen Georgriev, convicted of “rape with a weapon”; Abdukadir Haji of Somalia, whom DHS said was convicted of “sex assault and rape”; and Cuban national Samuel Reyes-Silva, convicted of “robbery and homicide.”
Ramirez, a member of the progressive group of lawmakers known as the “Squad,” responded in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Every day, Americans wake up with a new reason to dismantle DHS, reimagine safety, and build something that honors our shared humanity,” she said. “The people have the power to reshape the government: instead of the weapon DHS has proven to be, we need a department built on the best parts of who we are and can be, and the best examples of how we can take care of each other in hard times.”
She added, “Markwayne and DHS will keep spreading cheap lies and fearmongering in a desperate attempt to save face because dismantling DHS and building something new is part of how we hold them accountable, stop corruption, and end their lawlessness.”
Broader debate over ICE
Calls among Democrats to abolish ICE have grown in recent months amid bipartisan criticism of President Trump’s immigration enforcement approach. That criticism intensified after federal agents shot a Venezuelan national in Austin, Texas, and after immigration officials were involved in the deaths of two US citizens earlier this year. Ramirez’s bill goes further than most previous proposals by also calling for the elimination of CBP.
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