U.S. Rep Delia Ramirez Introduces Bill to Abolish ICE, CBP and DHS, Says They Threaten Public Safety: 'Enough Is Enough'

A progressive U.S. congresswoman has introduced a bill to abolish not only ICE, but Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and the entire Department of Homeland Security.

On October 13, Rep. Delia Ramirez of Illinois introduced the Reimagining Safety Act, which would repeal 2002's Homeland Security Act, which created the Department of Homeland Security and was signed by President George W. Bush as part of his administration's War on Terror.

“We know that DHS was intentionally established with an overbroad mission and unchecked power. The last two years have made it visible what so many communities have actually been saying for decades: That DHS, frankly, is the single greatest threat to our public safety today,” Ramirez said in a September press conference ahead of the bill's introduction. “We must strip away every single tool they are using to terrorize us.”

In addition to abolishing ICE and CBP, the bill would move other key departments controlled by DHS, such as Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Coast Guard, Citizenship and Immigration Services, to other departments.

The bill is cosponsored by Democrats Adelita Grijalva of Arizona, Jim McGovern of Massachusetts, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

Abolishing the Department of Homeland Security is only the headline in Ramirez's sweeping legislation.

The bill would establish a new "Department of Community Safety," a Cabinet-level department addressing disaster relief and gun violence. It would also shutter the infamous Guantanamo Bay military detention center and strip the federal government of its power to designate groups "foreign terrorist organizations."

Ramirez pointed out that DHS is a relatively new department, and argued that its only use has been to terrorize citizens since its inception.

“From its inception, those in power have wielded DHS as a weapon. Widespread illegal and abusive detention of immigrants, violent racial profiling, and state overreach — including domestic surveillance, civil rights violations via the USA PATRIOT Act,” Ramirez said.

“The bottom line is this: From its establishment, DHS has always been empowered to violate our rights, under the pretense of securing our safety,” she added. “Enough is enough.”

The bill comes as Americans voice increased dissatisfaction at the Trump administration's intense and often violent pursuit of immigration enforcement through the actions of ICE and Border Patrol.

Only 36 percent of Americans support the Trump administration's handling of immigration, per a September Reuters/Ipsos poll. In mid-October, ICE actions in New York and Houston have caused national outrage. In New York, unmarked ICE agents shot a man 7 times with his 5-year-old son in his car. In Houston, an ICE agent was filmed running over a hispanic man in an SUV, seemingly intentionally, when the man was not even the target of their operation.

The legislation has little hope of passing as the government currently stands. All three branches of government are controlled by Republicans, and even if Democrats reclaim House and Senate majorities in the 2026 midterms, President Donald Trump would almost certainly veto the bill if it made it to his desk.