Democrats Debate Whether Abolishing ICE Could Hurt at the Polls: 'Get to the Business of Winning Races'

People attend a vigil and celebration of life for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican construction worker who was fatally shot during a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation, in Houston, Texas, on August 7, 2026. The son of a Mexican man fatally shot by US immigration officials in Texas demanded an investigation, with a leading civil rights group calling it a "possible murder." Lorenzo Salgado was killed by an ICE officer in Houston, Texas, early on July 7, marking the first fatal shooting involving US immigration officers since two January killings in the northern city of Minneapolis that drew national headlines. (Credit: Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP via Getty Images)

Democrats approved competing resolutions to abolish and reform Immigration and Customs Enforcement over the weekend, highlighting an internal debate over how far the party should go in opposing President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown without alienating voters ahead of the midterm elections.

The Democratic National Committee approved both nonbinding measures at its summer meeting in Austin, Texas, according to The Associated Press. One calls on congressional Democrats to abolish ICE and wind down the immigration detention system, while the other advocates "concrete reforms." The resolutions do not alter the party's official platform, which will be established at the 2028 Democratic National Convention.