Queens pols call on Dem leadership to push to abolish ICE
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More than 100 city and state officials penned a letter to Senate Minority Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries asking them to join their calls to abolish ICE. AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura
By Ryan Schwach
More than a dozen Queens lawmakers signed on to a letter with around 100 other elected officials calling on federal Democrats to push for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The 16 progressive state and city legislators called on Democratic leadership – Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries – to join their calls to abolish ICE.
“For the safety of our constituents and to restore public trust and the rule of law, we call on you and all congressional Democrats to publicly support the abolition of ICE and to leverage your positions to defund and dismantle this rogue federal agency,” the lawmakers wrote.
The letter comes as deportation numbers begin to rise again in New York and across the nation, and following the recent deaths of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Texas and Joan Sebastian Guerrero in Maine, both of whom were killed by ICE officers.
“The recent killings of two innocent immigrant fathers, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Joan Sebastian Guerrero — following the killings of Silverio Villegas González, Nurul Amin Shah Alam, Renée Good, Alex Pretti, and many others by immigration enforcement — show ICE has no regard for public safety, due process, or human decency,” the lawmakers wrote. “Since Trump’s second term began, over fifty people have died in ICE custody, and ICE agents have repeatedly fired their weapons and killed people in their vehicles. ICE has continued to detain and deport thousands of New Yorkers who have contributed to our neighborhoods for decades — separating parents from their children and shipping off high school students.”
Queens State Assemblymember Diana Moreno said it is time for New York elected officials to “really take a stand” on abolishing ICE. Eagle file photo by Ryan Schwach
“This is an unsustainable degree of impunity, cruelty, and recklessness that cannot be reformed,” they added.
Queens State Senator Julia Salazar and Queens Assemblymember Diana Moreno are the lead signers of the letter alongside Brooklyn Councilmember Shahana Hanif.
They were joined by 14 other Queens lawmakers; State Senators Michael Gianaris, Jessica Ramos and Kristen Gonzalez; Assemblymembers Jessica González-Rojas, Steven Raga, Khaleel Anderson, Claire Valdez, Catalina Cruz and Ron Kim; and Councilmembers Nantasha Williams, Tiffany Cabán, Shekar Krishnan, Julie Won and Jennifer Gutierrez.
In total 113 elected officials signed the letter as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Moreno.
“This is the moment for New York elected officials to really take a stand and let our constituents know which side they are on,” Moreno told the Eagle on Tuesday. “It's time for people of conscience to step up against the deep corruption and abuse of power of the Trump administration, and I think ICE is a very clear example of that abuse of power and its human cost.”
The recently elected democratic socialist lawmaker, who succeeded Mayor Zohran Mamdani in his Astoria Assembly district, is herself an immigrant and said the letter was motivated by the recent killings by ICE agents.
“We in our communities are living in deep fear to the point where you have children that are not going to school, they're being held back from going outside,” she said. “You have parents who are afraid to go purchase groceries, who are afraid to go to see a doctor, and this is completely inhumane.”
ICE activity has increased in June and July nationwide, with the agency arresting more than 43,000 people in June, averaging more than 1,500 arrests a day, according to the agency’s data.
In New York City, many of the arrests are made after court hearings.
In June, 4,447 people were ordered removed by immigration judges in the city, doubling from the month prior, according to a report cited in The City Reporter.
ICE agents have reportedly made arrests in a number of Queens neighborhoods, including Ridgewood, Corona and Jackson Heights.
“It is really the responsibility of Jeffries and Schumer, as the leaders, to rein in this abuse,” Moreno said. “There is no reforming this agency.”
Previously, Democratic leadership has pushed for reforms to ICE. They also held the line on not funding the Department of Homeland Security for several months earlier this year. But they have stopped short of calling for the abolition of ICE.
At a rally in January, two of Queens' senior representatives, Grace Meng and Greg Meeks, both declined to say they would abolish ICE.
“If ICE goes by the mission that it has had previously, where you're looking to get individuals who are illegal and have committed a crime, especially violent crimes, then those individuals are who ICE should be targeting," Meeks said when asked if he was in favor of abolishing the enforcement agency.
In response to the letter, a spokesperson for Schumer’s office said, “Democrats will not let up until the killings, cruelty, and impunity,” of ICE come to an end.
"Senator Schumer led the longest shutdown in history to stop ICE's abuses, and that fight is not over,” the spokesperson said. “Democrats stand united in refusing to fund ICE until fundamental reforms are put in place: masks off, cameras on, no more warrantless arrests, full cooperation with localities, and real accountability.”
Jeffries did not comment for this story, but his office directed the Eagle to comments the minority leader made in a recent podcast interview where defended the efforts of Washington Democrats.
“I think we're on the right side of the American people by refusing to fund ICE's violent mass deportation machine and refusing to give ICE a dime to continue to brutalize and kill American citizens or violently target law-abiding immigrants,” he said.
This story was updated on Wednesday, 7/22 at 2:27 p.m. to reflect comments from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
