Following the lead of upstart New York congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is Delaware\u2019s Kerri Evelyn Harris, who is hoping her liberal leanings will propel her to victory over incumbent Sen. Tom Carper in the September Democratic primary. To achieve that goal, Harris has embraced the modern-day \u201cprogressive\u201d platform and just publicly backed the idea of abolishing\u00a0Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe that we need to get rid of ICE … then reallocate the funds that are being wasted on our current use of ICE,” Harris told Hill.TV<\/a>, adding that she believed ICE \u201cmakes us less secure within our borders and internationally because people are concerned [about]how we’re treated one another.\u201d<\/p>\n The pair join a growing chorus of Democrats on the local and federal level, particularly those with eyes on 2020, supporting the abolition of the agency responsible for enforcing immigration law in the interior, combating human trafficking and assisting in international terror investigations. Supporters insist their efforts are not akin to ending immigration enforcement, but they have failed to provide an alternative enforcement agency.<\/p>\n The reason behind this is clear even to immigration moderates.<\/p>\n \u201cDemocrats would quickly discover that\u202fturning\u202fsimple campaign slogans into\u202freform of ICE\u2019s\u202flaw enforcement functions will encounter resistance from activists who fundamentally oppose the deportation of undocumented immigrants,\u201d write<\/a> the Bipartisan Policy Center\u2019s Cristobal Ramon and David Lapan.<\/p>\n Conversely, Americans\u2019 views of immigration are edging toward more enforcement, not less.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is a new middle on immigration, and it is further to the right than many may realize. Most Americans believe the U.S. immigration system is broken, out of control, and antiquated,\u201d begins a new report<\/a> from the Bipartisan Policy Center.<\/p>\n That conclusion was reached after a year of conducting focus groups, interviews and a survey from Luntz Global, which finds a majority of voters opposing amnesty or providing a path to citizenship \u201cfor free.\u201d<\/p>\n While Americans are proud of being a so-called \u201ca nation of immigrants,\u201d they also believe that the \u201cgovernment is mismanaging the current system, and that strong immigration enforcement is necessary to establish control over immigration.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition, the survey found:<\/p>\n Americans do not want more tired slogans and political posturing, they want solutions. And \u201cAbolish ICE\u201d is not the answer to either a broken immigration system or a party with no ideas. \n