Progressive Lawmaker Proposes Dismantling DHS and Ending ICE Detention
Rep. Delia Ramirez plans to introduce the Reimagining Safety Act, which would abolish the Department of Homeland Security and end all immigrant detention.
Illinois Democrat Rep. Delia Ramirez is set to unveil the Reimagining Safety Act, a legislative package that would dissolve the Department of Homeland Security and eliminate all forms of immigrant detention. The bill calls for a new Department of Community Safety to oversee FEMA and fund community-based violence-prevention programs, while transferring immigration enforcement to the Justice Department and reallocating other DHS duties to the Transportation and Treasury departments.
The initiative comes after a Homeland Security Investigations search of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s residence and an ICE agent’s shooting of Oscar Belgal, whose five-year-old child was in the car. Ramirez cites these incidents as evidence that DHS operates as a weapon against marginalized communities. The legislation also seeks to end the no-fly list without a criminal conviction and to halt the designation of “foreign terrorist” organizations used against activists. Though facing steep odds in a Republican-controlled Congress, the proposal aims to spark debate over the nation’s surveillance and carceral state.
Why it matters
The bill challenges the structure of U.S. security agencies and could reshape immigration enforcement and civil liberties.
How this story developed
- Aug 13 San Antonio immigrants live in constant fear as ICE arrests surge
- Sep 20 A man was wounded after being shot by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in North Austin, Texas, and taken to a local hospital.
- Sep 27 A federal judge scheduled a personal appearance for the man on September 30 and issued a temporary order halting his deportation.
- Sep 29 The U.S. Supreme Court granted the Justice Department’s emergency request, letting the Trump administration continue deporting migrants to third countries while the policy’s legality is examined.
- Sep 30 Supreme Court issued an emergency order allowing third‑country deportations to continue.
- Sep 30 An immigration judge ruled that Salah Sarsour, head of Wisconsin’s largest mosque, can be deported on national-security grounds despite his claim that the case targets his Palestinian-rights advocacy.
- Sep 30 The Justice Department lodged complaints with the 8th Circuit alleging that Minnesota federal judges made partisan statements about a Trump-era deportation surge.
- Oct 1 A federal indictment charging Garces Perez with assault was filed.
- Oct 3 The filing requests that the judges be barred from hearing Department of Homeland Security cases.
- Oct 3 A Chicago immigration judge allowed a possible deportation of Salah Sarsour.
- Oct 8 A person was shot by federal agents in Marble Hill, Bronx, and is now receiving treatment at a nearby hospital.
- Oct 9 ICE announced it will continue enforcement actions in New York City despite the shooting.
- Oct 10 Protests spread to Manhattan and lower Manhattan, drawing thousands of demonstrators.
- Oct 10 An off‑duty ICE agent was shot after allegedly assaulting a homeowner and his father in Fresno.
In this story
Related stories
127 in this thread