The Democrat Party just handed Republicans a gift heading into the November midterms.
The far-left wing of the party finally got what it wanted — in writing, with votes to prove it.
And the DNC’s decision to formally back abolishing ICE could be the anchor that drags vulnerable Democrat candidates straight to the bottom.
What the DNC Actually Voted to Do
The Democratic National Committee voted to approve dueling resolutions on ICE at its summer meeting — one calling to abolish the agency, one calling to reform it. Both passed out of committee and were sent to the full membership, where they passed by voice vote.
The abolish resolution reads in part: “The DNC urges Democratic members of Congress to craft legislation abolishing ICE and enacting immigration reform that provides pathways to citizenship, protects workers, and ensures dignity for all impacted people.”
The resolution calls on Democratic members of Congress to enact legislation dissolving ICE and winding down the immigration detention system.
It also calls for restricting Department of Homeland Security funding unless certain enforcement activities end, including workplace raids, mass roundups, arrests at courthouses, arrests at ICE check-ins, enforcement actions near schools and houses of worship, and other operations, as well as terminating contracts with private detention providers.
The resolution passed 25 to 12 and was introduced by Michele Johnson, a DNC committeewoman from Louisiana. In 2024, the website of the New Orleans Democratic Socialists of America described Johnson as a member of its chapter.
That last detail is worth sitting with for a moment.
The person who wrote the resolution demanding the abolition of America’s primary interior immigration enforcement agency is, according to her own party’s website records, a member of an openly Marxist organization whose platform calls for open borders, the abolition of prisons, and the seizure of major corporations. And the DNC voted for her resolution by more than two to one.
An amendment that would have replaced the word “abolishing” with “completely restructuring” was withdrawn. At the meeting, Johnson said she wanted to go beyond merely calling for reforms.
“We do not need an agency who treats all individuals of my skin color and darker like criminals just for existing. Please join me and 76% of Democrats that support abolishing ICE,” Johnson said.
The Party Cannot Even Agree With Itself
Not every Democrat in the room was on board, and the debate got heated.
The resolution touched off a spirited debate among Democrats present, with some urging reform rather than abolishment. Marge Hoffa, the DNC’s Midwestern regional vice chair, noted that the DNC had previously passed resolutions advocating ICE reforms, including during the same meeting. That reform resolution came from DNC Chairman Ken Martin, who, like Hoffa, is from Minnesota.
“We shouldn’t contradict ourselves by also introducing a resolution that would now call to abolish something that we have [a] well-established track record of calling to be drastically reformed,” Hoffa said.
So the DNC passed a reform resolution and an abolish resolution at the same meeting. Both passed. The party is now officially on record supporting two contradictory positions simultaneously, which tells you everything you need to know about who is actually running the show in Austin.
DNC Chair Ken Martin emphasized that official party platforms are established every four years at the national convention, while noting that Democrats remain united in opposing the administration’s current approach to border and immigration enforcement. “Our official party positions are determined at the convention every four years in our platform,” Martin said in a statement.
That is the sound of a party chairman trying to distance himself from a vote his own committee just took. Martin did not block the resolution. He did not rally votes against it. He let it pass, then issued a statement suggesting it does not really count. That is not leadership. That is a man trying to have it both ways while the socialist wing of his party drives the car.
“However, clearly, the one thing that unites Democrats, regardless of their position on reform versus abolish or whatever other ways to change what’s happening, is people believe that what ICE is doing right now and CBP and the federal government should stop,” Martin said. “There has to be a better way.”
What This Means With November Approaching
Border czar Tom Homan said in July that ICE was on schedule to set arrest records for a second consecutive month, describing the agency’s current enforcement push as “deportation-maxxing.”
And the Democrat Party’s response to record enforcement and a secured southern border is to vote — formally, with a roll call — to eliminate the agency doing the enforcing.
The RNC’s national press secretary Natalie Baldassarre fired back immediately: “Democrats are the open borders party. Their radical pro-criminal agenda puts law enforcement and the public at risk. President Trump secured our border, deported violent criminal aliens, and delivered the lowest murder rate in 125 years. If Democrats had any backbone they’d vote down this dangerous proposal and put American citizens first.”
The resolution also pairs the abolish demand with a push for pathways to citizenship for illegal aliens. That is not a reform proposal. That is a strategy to replace the existing electorate with one more favorable to the Left — tear down the enforcement apparatus, legalize everyone who came in illegally, and build a permanent political majority on the wreckage. Democrats are not hiding this anymore. They voted for it out loud in Austin.
A May 2026 Marquette Law School national survey found that inflation and cost of living ranked first among the most important issues at 37 percent, followed by the economy at 19 percent, while immigration and border security trailed at 6 percent. The same poll found Republicans led Democrats by 19 percentage points on immigration and border security.
Republicans lead by 19 points on the issue, and Democrats just made it a centerpiece of their summer meeting agenda. That math does not work in their favor, and the candidates who have to run in competitive districts this fall know it.
Some opponents of the “abolish” language inside the DNC insisted they wanted to dramatically overhaul ICE and end President Trump’s immigration policies — they just wanted to shy away from rhetoric that backfired on Democrats in the past, such as calls to “abolish the police.”
But the abolish faction won anyway. The same political instinct that produced “defund the police” — and the crime wave and electoral disasters that followed — is now running immigration policy for the national Democrat Party. Working-class communities in swing districts paid the price for that experiment in 2020 and 2021. They remember.
Martin has faced a series of problems as chairman, including a major cash crunch compared with the Republican National Committee. The DNC ended June with $16.3 million cash on hand and more than $18 million in debt, while the RNC had $128 million cash on hand and no debt.
A party that is $18 million in the hole, outgunned financially by more than eight to one, just spent its summer meeting voting to abolish the federal agency that 2024 voters credited Trump for deploying effectively. That is a remarkable set of priorities for an organization trying to win back Congress in three months.
The DSA wing of the Democrat Party is not a fringe anymore. It drafted the resolution. It got the votes. And the party’s nominal leadership let it happen and then issued a statement pretending it did not really mean anything. If that is the plan heading into November, Republicans should be very encouraged.
“This is the latest signal that Democrats are being run over by the socialist wing of their party who want open borders, mass amnesty, and the complete and total abolishment of prisons and the police,” the RNC stated.
Hard to argue with that.
Sources: Mediaite, Newsweek, The Epoch Times, Washington Times, Washington Examiner, The Gateway Pundit, Marquette Law School Poll (May 2026)
