A New Vision for a Civil Immigration System

THE PATH FORWARD: REPLACING FEAR WITH FUNCTIONALITY

For over two decades, our nation has approached immigration through a lens of permanent crisis and paramilitary enforcement. The creation of ICE under the Department of Homeland Security in 2003 was a reactive measure to 9/11 by the administration of President George W. Bush. Today, the agency has become an unaccountable bureaucracy and paramilitary force that prioritizes the optics of “tactical strength” over the reality of effective immigration management.

Our campaign is committed to a fundamental shift: The Demilitarization of the American Immigration System.

As your representative, I will advocate for a framework that treats immigration as a civil administrative matter, not a military conflict. My platform focuses on five core pillars:

1. Dissolving the Paramilitary Model

The era of masked agents, unmarked vehicles, and “no-knock” residential raids must end. These tactics do not make us safer; they shatter community trust and terrorize families. In Congress, I will fight for the transition of enforcement duties to civilian case managers and unarmed compliance officers who prioritize legal participation over physical intimidation. Matters relating to individuals who have committed crimes will be adjudicated by the courts and enforced by the relevant law enforcement agency of jurisdiction.

2. Abolishing ICE

ICE under the Department of Homeland Security has become a paramilitary force that threatens our democracy and the rights of the American people. By abolishing ICE, we will return its criminal investigative duties (such as human trafficking and child exploitation) to the Department of Justice, where they belong. This allows our immigration system to return to its primary mission: Service, Processing, and Orderly Administration.

3. Investing in People, Not For-Profit Prisons

Billions of taxpayer dollars are spent annually to maintain a network of private detention centers that profit from the suffering caused by our militarized immigration system. I will fight to:

  • Defund private detention contracts and reinvest those funds into “Alternatives to Detention (ATD), such as community-based case management, electronic monitoring, and reporting requirements.
  • Mandate legal counsel for all individuals in the immigration system, protecting the judicial process and ensuring that our courts move with efficiency and fairness.
  • Hire more immigration judges to cut down the interminable wait time for migrants awaiting decisions on their status.

4. Protecting Families and Promoting Unity

We see it every day: our current system uses family separation as a tool of deterrence. This practice is inhumane and abusive. I support the Reuniting Families Act, which would:

  • Reclassify spouses and children of legal permanent residents as “immediate relatives” to end forced separations.
  • Establish a “Best Interests of the Child” standard for all immigration proceedings, ensuring that no child is separated from a primary caregiver for a civil violation.

5. Holding Government Accountable

We must end the “culture of impunity” within federal immigration enforcement. I will champion the Ending Qualified Immunity for ICE Agents Act and the Stop Excessive Force in Immigration Act to:

  • Remove the shield of qualified immunity to allow individuals to seek justice in court when their civil rights are violated.
  • Require body cameras and uniform identification for all federal agents during field operations.
  • Restore the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. We must fully investigate abuses in detention facilities by reinstating the Immigration Detention Ombudsman with full subpoena power.

We must also empower local law enforcement to investigate ICE-related crimes when federal agencies are compromised.

The Bottom Line

A demilitarized model is a more fiscally responsible, constitutional, and humane way to lead. It is time to move past the rhetoric of the “war on immigrants” and build a system that reflects our values as a nation of laws and a nation of neighbors.