Michigan Democratic Rep. Shri Thanedar is following through on his promise to introduce a new piece of legislation called “The Abolish ICE Act,” which, if passed, will dismantle the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. Thanedar’s office issued the announcement on January 9, 2026, and officially began the process to introduce the bill on January 15.
It’s now known as H.R. 7123. The bill has already been referred to the Judiciary Committee, the Homeland Security Committee, and the Ways and Means Committee. In order for the legislation to be made into law, it would need to have support from both major political parties and then be signed by President Donald Trump. Seeing that the Trump administration has adamantly defended ICE against critics, that isn’t likely to happen.
Thanedar, who represents the 13th District, which includes both Detroit and the Downriver area, has repeatedly slammed federal immigration agencies and the Trump administration as a whole over the issue of immigration enforcement. In April 2025, Thanedar filed seven articles of impeachment against the president; however, just a month later, he backed off and accused former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem of “lying to the American people” during a House hearing held on December 11, 2025.
According to CBS News, Thanedar also filed a series of articles of impeachment against Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in December 2025. In a post on his website, Thanedar wrote about his reasoning for creating the legislation, saying, “Since ICE’s establishment in 2003, they’ve prioritized aggressive enforcement and violence rather than due process. Americans are being terrorized.”
“Last year, I introduced legislation to end qualified immunity for ICE agents, ensuring they are held accountable when they break the law,” Thanedar continued. He added, “But the killing of Renee Nicole Good proved that ICE is out of control and beyond reform. We must fundamentally change the way we approach immigration: it’s time to abolish ICE.”
Renee Good was shot and killed by ICE after impeding an active operation to apprehend criminal illegals and refusing to comply with officer demands. She then attempted to allegedly run over an ICE officer, which led to the shooting and ultimately her death. Just days after Good was killed in Minneapolis, another individual, nurse Alex Pretti, was also shot and killed for assaulting an immigration enforcement officer.
“We can do this without ICE,” Thanedar said to the media. He further added, “We do not need the murders. We do not need this paramilitary organization’s members on our streets terrorizing U.S. citizens, terrorizing moms [and] terrorizing our children.” Thanedar isn’t the only Democrat in Congress who has problems with ICE and how they conduct their operations.
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Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who is the representative for the district where Good was killed, ripped into ICE, referring to the agency as an “occupying force” that is carrying out its work in a “lawless” fashion, according to a report from The Hill. Congressional Democrats have also floated other proposals to try to hamper immigration enforcement officers from doing their jobs, including cutting off funding. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) stated, “We should not be giving money for an increase in the ICE budget. We should be fighting this.”
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video