Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI) said Wednesday that he plans to introduce legislation that would dismantle U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, arguing that the agency is no longer capable of reform and should be eliminated entirely. Speaking at a press conference, Thanedar described ICE as “totally out of control” and accused the agency of “working beyond control” under the leadership of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Thanedar said he is “proud to have co-sponsored a resolution” seeking to impeach Noem, alleging misuse of “taxpayer funds,” providing false information to his “homeland security committee,” and “leading an agency, leading ICE, that is committing crimes across America.” He framed his proposed legislation as a response to what he characterized as systemic failures within federal immigration enforcement.
“And, we must finally — we must, we must reform ICE, but it looks at this stage folks, ICE is beyond reform. ICE is totally out of control and this week, I intend to introduce a bill to abolish ICE,” Thanedar said. “We need to make ICE go away.”
A press release issued by Thanedar on January 9 states that he intends to introduce the Abolish ICE Act, which would “dismantle the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and end its current enforcement authority.” ICE, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security, is responsible for enforcing federal immigration laws, investigating transnational crime, and carrying out deportation orders issued through the immigration court system. Any proposal to abolish the agency would represent a significant restructuring of federal immigration enforcement and would require congressional approval.
The announcement followed a fatal shooting earlier this month involving an ICE agent in Minneapolis. The woman who was killed, Renee Nicole Good, was accused by federal officials of having “weaponized her vehicle” during an encounter with agents. In a statement, Thanedar linked the incident directly to his call for abolishing the agency.
“The tragic death of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, a 37-year-old mother fatally shot by an ICE agent, shows that ICE cannot be reformed and must be abolished,” Thanedar said. “The Abolish ICE Act is a step toward justice, accountability, and a more humane approach to immigration policy.”
According to reporting from Breitbart News’s AWR Hawkins, “a group of people began trying to block ICE agents” who were conducting operations in Minneapolis at the time of the shooting. NBC News similarly reported that a group attempted to obstruct ICE agents as they carried out “targeted operations” in the city and that, during the incident, a woman allegedly used her vehicle to attack agents.
The Department of Homeland Security described the encounter in a post on X, stating that the woman involved “weaponized her vehicle” and attempted “to run over” ICE officials. “Today, ICE officers in Minneapolis were conducting targeted operations when rioters began blocking ICE officers and one of these violent rioters weaponized her vehicle, attempting to run over our law enforcement officers in an attempt to kill them—an act of domestic terrorism,” Homeland Security wrote in the January 7 post.
Secretary Noem has also addressed the incident, explaining that ICE officers were conducting an “enforcement action” when their vehicle became stuck in the snow. She said agents attempted to push the vehicle free when a confrontation occurred. According to Noem, “a woman attacked them.”
“A woman attacked them, and those surrounding them, and attempted to run them over, and ram them with her vehicle,” Noem shared. “An officer of ours acted quickly, and defensively shot to protect himself and the people around him.”
Thanedar’s proposal comes as immigration enforcement remains a central issue in national policy debates, with ICE playing a key role in interior enforcement, detention operations, and cooperation with other federal and local agencies. Eliminating the agency would raise questions about how federal immigration laws would be enforced, how ongoing investigations and removals would be handled, and how responsibilities currently assigned to ICE would be redistributed within the federal government.
As of now, the proposed legislation has not been formally introduced, and it remains unclear how much support it would receive in Congress. The issue is likely to draw scrutiny given its implications for public safety, federal law enforcement authority, and the structure of immigration enforcement nationwide.
