Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley is calling for the defunding of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Pressley, who is challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano this year, released a statement Monday through her twitter account saying the agency should be defunded due to its deeply flawed and destructive immigration policies.
"Our immigration system is fundamentally broken and ICE's role in supporting the existing system — including separating families seeking refuge in the United States and conducting indiscriminate deportation raids in our communities — is creating an atmosphere of toxic fear and mistrust in immigrant communities," Pressley said in a statement.
Pressley, who says on her website she stands up for Dreamers and the recipients of temporary protective status, points to the fact that ICE hasn't been around that long and is broken.
"ICE was created less than 20 years ago, and it is clear now that the agency is irrevocably broken. If elected, I will work with Federal leaders to rehouse the non-immigration enforcement functions of ICE — including human trafficking and money laundering investigations — elsewhere in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, while immediately eliminating funding for enforcement and removal functions," she said.
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Pressley's full statement comes before she plans to visit the South Bay House of Corrections in Boston on Wednesday. The facility has a contract with ICE to serve as a detention center for immigrants.
