Politics After Minneapolis, Democrats Revive ‘Abolish ICE’ Shaking off the shackles of woke might be easier said than done. One of the core elements of the peak woke Democratic Party was “Abolish ICE.” It became such a popular idea in the first Trump term that most 2020 Democratic hopefuls had to entertain the idea. That dalliance would later haunt Kamala Harris in her 2024 bid. After Donald Trump’s landslide 2024 victory,  “Abolish ICE” seemed to be one of those woke elements, alongside mandatory pronouns and “Defund the Police,” that the Democratic establishment would bury for good. It alienated voters and made the Democrats look like maniacs. In the aftermath of defeat, party leaders wanted to ditch woke and seem more moderate to ordinary Americans. But their base thought differently, as clearly evidenced by the reaction to the ICE shooting in Minneapolis. Now the calls to abolish ICE are reviving once more and finding an enthusiastic response among Democratic voters. This woke priority will influence the party agenda in 2028. Democrats were apoplectic over the ICE shooting. Regardless of the facts on the ground, they determined the officer murdered an innocent woman in cold blood and want immigration law enforcement to pay the price. Prominent Democrats in Congress, such as Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), want the federal agency defunded in the budget for Homeland Security. Rep. Robin Kelly (D-IL) plans to introduce articles of impeachment against DHS Secretary Kristi Noem over the matter. Other Democrats explicitly called for ICE’s abolishment. Massachusetts’s Rep. Ayanna Pressley declared ICE a “rogue, violent agency” that “must be abolished.” The Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner claimed in an X post that “Dismantling ICE is the moderate position.”  “Unmask these thugs, arrest them, and make them answer for these horrors,” he added.  Protesters throughout the country carried “Abolish ICE” banners following the shooting.  This is a feeling that’s long been simmering within the Democratic base. While leading Democrats such as Gavin Newsom  acknowledge the party failed to secure the border and promise to correct that error in the future, the progressive grassroots has been focused on different priorities. Polls show Democrats overwhelmingly disapprove of ICE, with a November YouGov survey finding 85 percent disapproval among Democratic voters and an additional 76 percent back protests against the agency. Axios reported last summer how Democratic lawmakers are inundated with calls from left-wing constituents that they should violently confront ICE raids. A number of Democratic lawmakers and candidates have been arrested for trying to block ICE actions. The sentiment is now reflected on the campaign trail, with Platner, the Illinois congressional candidate Patty Garcia, and several others now making the abolition of ICE a core part of their pitch to voters. “Let me be clear: F— ICE,” Garcia said in her campaign announcement. “It’s time to abolish ICE and hold Trump and his entire clan accountable.”  Democratic governors and mayors can’t abolish ICE, but many of them want to use any means necessary to stop agents from enforcing immigration law. Chicago’s Mayor Brandon Johnson and Oregon legislators are just some of the Democrats who want local law enforcement to arrest ICE. Minnesota’s embattled Gov. Tim Walz appeared to share this sentiment this week when he threatened to send the National Guard to Minneapolis to stop ICE from doing its job. He also encouraged citizens “peacefully” to resist the federal agency. The rhetoric and proposals are only going to get more radical and hysteric in the wake of the Minneapolis and Portland shootings. Democrats’ plans to look moderate for 2028 could go up in flames. As outlined by Newsom, there is a needle Democrats wish to thread about immigration. They want to look like they support border security and distinguish it from internal immigration law enforcement. They want to be perceived as stopping illegal immigration outside the country, but doing no deportations of those already here. Every Democrat with brain cells understands open borders killed the Biden presidency and was an albatross around Kamala’s neck in the general election. They know millions of illegal immigrants flooding into the country upsets the general electorate. But their primary voters may view it differently. Liberal audiences, fired up with rage over Trump’s immigration actions, don’t want to hear candidates try to thread the needle and attack ICE but praise Border Patrol. Their own voters could very well insist that both are curtailed in a future Democratic administration. It’s important to remember that the initial calls to abolish ICE convinced the party to institute open borders in the first place. The Biden administration responded to base demands by refusing to enforce immigration law. There was no distinguishing between ICE and border security in the Left’s outrage. The same scenario could easily play out once more. Democrats indicate this is how it will turn out by their eagerness to oppose any forms of immigration enforcement during Trump’s second terms. Blue states passing laws to prevent the detention and deportation of illegal aliens in their states, regardless of which heinous crimes they committed, exhibit a hostility towards all forms of immigration law enforcement, whether at the border or within the interior.  Despite the intentions of its leadership, the Democrats may stick with wokeness. Party conferences still mandate pronoun announcements. The DNC still follows strict diversity quotas for leadership roles. Leaders still talk about doling out reparations, with Maryland, San Francisco, and other locales pursuing the deeply unpopular policy. Democrats were eager to declare themselves no longer woke at the start of the Trump administration. But it’s 2026, and the party seems to think it would be better to not make any real changes. That’s why the DNC buried its 2024 autopsy report, which likely chastised the party for adopting too many far-left positions that alienated ordinary Americans. But with strong results in 2025’s elections and the base angrily insisting on radical positions, the Democrats feel it’s best to stick with a left-wing direction. There’s no better way to show America that they haven’t changed than to revive “Abolish ICE.” The post After Minneapolis, Democrats Revive ‘Abolish ICE’ appeared first on The American Conservative.