Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand Calls to Abolish ICE

Democrat @SenGillibrand: “I believe you should get rid of [ICE], start over, reimagine it, and build something that actually works #CuomoPrimeTime https://t.co/3SwLWVK0Fa pic.twitter.com/HnpFj19w0z

— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) June 29, 2018

Last night, Kirsten Gillibrand became the first sitting member of the U.S. Senate to say that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should be dismantled.

CNN’s Chris Cuomo spoke to the New York Democrat on Thursday, asking her if she agrees with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez‘s call to do away with the agency. Ocasio-Cortez’s stance has become a popular platform for the progressive left — particularly due to President Trump‘s now-rescinded policy for migrant children — and Gillibrand agreed that “I don’t think ICE today is working as intended.”

“I believe that it has become a deportation force, and I think you should separate the criminal justice from the immigration issues,” said Gillibrand. “I think you should reimagine ICE under a new agency with a very different mission and take those two missions out.”

The senator went on to recommend that ICE should be reconfigured into “something that actually works,” particularly with regard to protecting families in need of help. She made her position Twitter official by posting the Cuomo interview on her page:

I believe we need to protect families who need help, and ICE isn’t doing that. It has become a deportation force. We need to separate immigration issues from criminal justice. We need to abolish ICE, start over and build something that actually works. https://t.co/JtSN68k4Fd

— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) June 29, 2018

Watch above, via CNN

[Image via screengrab]

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