“Ilhan Omar doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” ICE says — after her “Abolish ICE” push
WASHINGTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Thursday accused Rep. Ilhan Omar of misinformation after the Minnesota Democrat renewed calls to abolish the agency, escalating a public back-and-forth as immigration enforcement remains a political flashpoint early in President Donald Trump’s second term.
“Rep. Ilhan Omar doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” ICE wrote in a post on X, arguing that Congress created the Department of Homeland Security after the Sept. 11 attacks and that ICE “enforces criminal and immigration laws WRITTEN BY CONGRESS.”
ICE’s post was a direct response to Omar’s message a day earlier that began, “Abolish ICE,” and called for an immigration system she described as lawful and humane. Omar has also amplified that position in recent weeks in official statements from her congressional office, including a Feb. 4 House-floor speech in which she urged abolishing ICE and criticized federal immigration operations in Minnesota.
While ICE’s post referred to a “Homeland Security Act of 2003,” the Department of Homeland Security says the Homeland Security Act of 2002 established DHS. ICE itself was created in 2003 as part of the broader DHS reorganization, according to federal government records describing the agency.
The exchange comes amid a broader debate over the scope of federal immigration enforcement and calls from some Democrats and advocates to dismantle or restructure ICE, an agency that has been at the center of disputes over detention, removals and enforcement priorities for years.
