That's the question underlying the calls for the abolition of Immigration and Customs and Enforcement (ICE), the bureau within the Department of Homeland Security responsible for upholding our immigration rules away from the borders.
The push to #AbolishICE is threatening to become a litmus test for Democratic politicians. It has been embraced by presidential hopefuls like Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand(D-N.Y.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), as well as other far-left figures such as New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, actress-turned-New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon, and a number of House members.
Despite the efforts of some senior Democrats to try to tamp down the anti-borders fervor of their base for fear of political backlash, the energy in the Democratic party is clearly on the far left. In the words of activist Sean McElwee, a co-founder of AbolishICE.org:
"I believe that every Democrat running in the 2020 Presidential Election will have to articulate a vision of a world without ICE."
Illegal immigrant Dreamers said they have been betrayed by Democratic leaders who failed to force a government shutdown showdown this week over demands to pass a legalization bill by the end of the year.
Congressional leaders signaled Wednesday that they will revisit the immigration issue early next year and vowed to complete legislation in January.
That wasn’t cutting it for Dreamers, who had set a year-end deadline and then watched in dismay as Democrats stumbled to deliver on it.
Hundreds of Dreamers, some risking arrest, took to the hallways in Congress to march and conduct lie-downs in office corridors to complain that they have been forgotten.
“We want Dream Act,” protesters chanted. They were referring to a bill that would grant tentative legal status to more than 2 million illegal immigrants and allow 1.7 million of them to earn green cards signifying permanent legal presence, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
The White House may be in for another surprise in November.
On Monday, the White House said that President Barack Obama decided to enact executive amnesty for potentially millions of illegal immigrants after the midterm elections because he felt that Americans would not be as intensely opposed to it after the campaign season.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest claimed that amnesty opponents were distorting facts during the campaign season, even though they have only been repeating reports about the scope of Obama's potential executive amnesty that have originated from pro-amnesty groups and the White House.