Congresswoman Summer Lee has delivered one of the most forceful critiques yet of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), arguing that the agency as it currently exists should not survive unchanged after Donald Trump leaves office.
Speaking in a video shared by civic platform @voteinorout, Lee said ICE’s operations under the Trump era have been “inhumane” and reflective of a deeper breakdown in America’s democratic checks and balances.
Her comments were echoed by fellow lawmaker Congressman Dan Goldman, who also questioned whether ICE, in its present form, is a necessary agency at all.
Summer Lee: Focus on Power, Not Individual Agents
Lee, a progressive Democrat, made clear that her criticism is not aimed at individual ICE agents alone, but at the political and institutional power structures that enable the agency’s conduct.
“My message would not be to ICE,” Lee said. “My message would be to those in power, to my colleagues. This is not a country that we should be building.”
(Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times)
She argued that appeals to shame no longer work because the conduct she described has become “shameless,” adding that how the United States treats immigrants—both documented and undocumented—reveals the direction the country is heading.
According to Lee, rejecting cruelty in immigration enforcement is not unpatriotic but a “patriotic act”, and lawmakers who genuinely care about the nation’s future should speak out against policies that sweep up families and long-settled communities who pose no public safety threat.
Goldman: ICE Funding ‘Wildly Excessive’
Congressman Dan Goldman reinforced Lee’s position by focusing on ICE’s scale and budget. He noted that the agency has received an estimated $45 billion increase in funding under recent legislation, an expansion he described as “far too excessive and unnecessary.”
Goldman likened ICE’s current footprint to that of a military force, arguing that it is “grossly out of proportion” to any legitimate immigration enforcement mission. He called for major funding cuts to claw back the increase and for stricter hiring standards to ensure agents are qualified and operating within the law.
“Immigration enforcement may be necessary,” Goldman said, “but not anywhere remotely like what we are seeing today.”
Calls for Accountability and Reform
Both lawmakers point out that future immigration policy must prioritize accountability, legal oversight, and proportional enforcement, rather than mass raids and aggressive tactics that destabilize communities.
Their comments come as Democrats and immigration advocates increasingly question whether ICE should be restructured, defunded, or dismantled altogether in a post-Trump political landscape.
While no formal legislative plan was outlined in the interview, the message from Lee and Goldman was clear: ICE’s future, after Trump, cannot look like its past.
