Some Democratic Senators Are Steering Clear of ‘Abolish ICE’ Movement: ‘You Still Have the Same President’

While a handful of Democratic senators have banned together calling for the abolishment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, not all of their colleagues are cheering them on.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) was one of several Democratic senators to steer clear of that platform Sunday when asked whether it had her support. For Duckworth, dissolving ICE would make no difference.

“You abolish ICE now, you still have the same president with the same failed policies,” she told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “Whatever you replace it with is just going to still reflect what this president wants to do.”

Instead, Duckworth wants an immediate solution for the fallout of President Donald Trump‘s zero-tolerance immigration policy, which led to thousands of children being taken from those with whom they crossed the border.

“Families are still separated, children are still in cages, nursing babies are still separated from their moms,” she said.

Duckworth wasn’t the only one to call for a fix other than doing away with ICE, being echoed also by Sen. Amy Kolbechar (D-MN) who advocated for legislative change during her appearance on ABC News the same day.

“I think what has to change are the policies and the people that are making these policies are making horrendous decisions like separating kids from their parents,” she told host Martha Raddatz, adding that “we are always going to need immigration enforcement.”

“We are a major country with major borders, so to me the issue is what are those policies, and please let’s get comprehensive immigration reform, something I’ve strongly supported for years,” Klobuchar said.

The senator also called the administration’s treatment of migrants appalling.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) also pushed for immigration reform on CBS News’ Face the Nation, telling host Margaret Brennan eliminating ICE is not the answer to migration issues.

“Abolishing ICE will accomplish nothing unless we change the Trump policies,” he said.

Blumenthal, who made a trip to the border  in June, said he witnessed the current administration’s treatment of migrants and that the plan to place them in tent cities amounted to imprisonment.

“I saw the brutality and inhumanity and absolute cruelty of these policies,” he told Brennan. “Ripping children away from their parents. There is no plan or path to reunify them. It is not happening and the Trump administration has embarked on a train wreck. A moral train wreck, a legal train wreck, and a humanitarian train wreck.”

Senators like Kirsten Gillibrand, Elizabeth Warren, and Kamala Harris have all called for ICE to be abolished in the wake of national outcry over family separation and detention of migrant children.

Watch the clips above, via CNN, ABC News and CBS News.

[Image via screengrab]

Follow Amy Russo on Twitter: @amymrusso

from Mediaite https://ift.tt/2tXWw67