ISSUE EXPLANATION​

America is a nation built by immigrants, but our immigration system has been distorted by corruption, political fearmongering, and private interests that profit from cruelty. Immigration policy must be grounded in human dignity, basic rights, and shared prosperity, not scapegoating or enforcement-for-profit. I reject efforts to vilify immigrants or criminalize their existence, and I oppose mass deportations, family separation, detention camps, and the use of for-profit detention facilities. These policies do not make us safer. They enrich contractors, weaken communities, and betray our values.

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WHAT TO DO ABOUT ICE?

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Immigration enforcement should be lawful, transparent, and accountable, not a shadow system insulated from scrutiny and driven by contracts instead of justice. Prior to the creation of ICE in 2003, immigration enforcement was mainly handled by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), which sat inside the Department of Justice and was responsible for both immigration services and enforcement. But, after the Homeland Security Act, the INS was dissolved and split into three DHS agencies, each with specific sub-agencies: 

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1. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for interior enforcement and investigations​

   • Homeland Security Investigations (HSI): Responsible for all criminal investigations

   • Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO): Responsible for arrests, detention, and removals

   • Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA): The chief legal office for prosecutions
      

2. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) for border and port-of-entry functions​

   • United States Border Patrol (USBP): Responsible for securing U.S. borders between ports of entry.

   • Office of Field Operations (OFO): Manages ports of entry, handling customs, immigration, and agricultural inspections for passengers and cargo.

   • Air and Marine Operations (AMO): Utilizes aircraft and vessels to interdict unlawful movement across borders.

   • Office of Trade (OT): Enforces trade laws, including intellectual property rights, anti-dumping duties, and forced labor regulations. 
      

3. US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for immigration benefits and services

   • ​Service Centers (SCOPS): Five centers handle various applications and petitions

   • Field Offices: Located throughout the U.S. to conduct interviews and provide local services

   • Asylum Offices: Specialized offices for asylum-related cases

   • National Benefits Center: Processes a wide range of applications and petitions

   • National Records Center: Handles FOIA requests and genealogy information

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So what's the fix? Well, organizationally, let's start by getting rid of ICE and:

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A) Turning ICE's investigatory branch (HSI) into a new independent agency under the Department of Justice (DOJ).
 

B) Putting a more constrained version of ICE's arrest and removal branch (ERO) under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
 

C) Perhaps most importantly, remove immigration courts from the DOJ and turn them into independent Article I courts.

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• ​​Currently: ICE investigates, arrests, and prosecutes → executive branch (DOJ) judges decide

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• New Structure: HSI (in DOJ) investigates → ERO (in DHS) arrests / prosecutes → independent court judges decide​

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Accountability must also mean that immigration officers are not placed above the law. I support ending qualified immunity for immigration agents and codifying clear, enforceable federal use-of-force standards. No law enforcement agency should operate under rules so vague that courts are unable to hold officers accountable even in cases of severe injury or death. When agents can violate constitutional rights without meaningful consequences, misconduct becomes systemic rather than exceptional.

• Clear statutory standards (e.g. who can be detained, when release is required, what factors may be considered, what procedures must be followed, etc.) would allow courts to evaluate actions based on law rather than internal agency discretion, thus protecting civil liberties and ensuring that enforcement is carried out professionally, proportionally, and within constitutional limits. 

• Congress (via funding conditions) should cap detention capacity, restrict the use of funds for certain tactics, require minimum spending on alternatives to detention and legal access, and condition funds on compliance with reporting and inspection rules.

• Create enforceable process restraints (e.g. reviewable custody decisions, time limits for detention without a hearing, mandatory public reporting, penalties for non-compliance, etc.)

• Expand judicial review and strengthen independent oversight outside of the Executive Branch by strengthening inspectors general, requiring independent audits, protecting whistleblowers, and creating statutory reporting duties directly to Congress. 

I also support an immediate and clear pathway to citizenship for DREAMers and other undocumented immigrants, alongside reforms that make legal immigration faster, more accessible, and more humane by reducing visa backlogs and arbitrary quotas. Our current system functions as a bureaucratic obstacle course designed to fail, one that benefits lawyers, consultants, and bad actors while families wait for years or decades. I also support restoring a fair and functional asylum system that guarantees due process, access to legal counsel, and humane, orderly border processing that prioritizes safety and human rights over cruelty or militarization.

The United States must again be a refuge for people fleeing persecution, violence, and political instability. I support removing caps on refugee resettlement and fully funding the communities, housing, and services that help refugees and asylum seekers integrate and thrive. Turning away refugees does not save money or increase security. It shifts costs onto local communities and fuels instability abroad.

Immigrants are essential to our economy and our communities, yet too often they are treated as disposable labor. Undocumented immigrants alone contribute billions of dollars each year in taxes and were on the frontlines as essential workers during crises like COVID-19. I support strong labor protections and aggressive enforcement to protect immigrants from corporate abuse, wage theft, unsafe working conditions, and retaliation. Corrupt employers should not be allowed to exploit immigration status to suppress wages or silence workers. Timely work authorization is essential so people are not forced into the shadows, and immigrants who contribute to our society should be able to access disaster relief and basic safety-net programs.

A just immigration system strengthens our economy, protects workers from exploitation, and restores integrity to government by ending policies that reward cruelty, privatization, and corruption. Real reform means replacing fear-driven enforcement with accountability, fairness, and opportunity so dignity and justice are not reserved for a few, but extended to all.