Democrats at a DNC meeting backed both abolish-ICE and reform-ICE messages.
Why it matters: The vote shows Democrats still lack a settled immigration-enforcement message heading into the next election cycle. That leaves the party trying to balance activist demands with concerns about swing voters.
- On Aug. 15, 2026, the DNC meeting in Austin approved dueling messages on ICE.
- One resolution called for 'concrete reforms' of ICE; another called for the agency to be abolished.
- The vote was non-binding and did not set the party platform.
- The platform will be decided at the 2028 convention.
Democrats exposed a familiar fault line at their summer meeting in Austin, where the Democratic National Committee approved competing messages on whether U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement should be abolished or reformed.
The split was not binding, and it did not decide the party platform. That will come later, at the 2028 convention.
Still, the debate underscored how unsettled Democrats remain on immigration enforcement ahead of the midterms and the 2028 presidential cycle. AP reported the renewed push to abolish ICE was tied in part to two fatal ICE shootings in July 2026, while the agency has been a progressive rallying cry since the first Trump administration in 2018.
Michele Johnson, a DNC member from Louisiana, proposed the abolition measure and said Democrats need to take a clear position. 'I think one of the reasons why people are not trusting the party is because we sound so academic,' she said. 'We sound focus group tested, we sound poll tested because we’re worried about saying the wrong thing or doing the wrong thing and not just like, just stand on business, like take a position.'
Yvonne Reeves-Chong opposed the abolition measure, warning it could please part of the base while creating political backlash elsewhere. 'I would strongly suggest we get to the business of winning races so we can make the policies that make a difference,' she said.
DNC Chair Ken Martin said Democrats' common ground is opposition to the Trump administration's current approach. 'Clearly, the one thing that unites Democrats, regardless of their position on reform versus abolish or whatever other ways to change what’s happening, is people believe that what ICE is doing right now - and CBP and the federal government - should stop,' he said. 'There has to be a better way.'
The meeting ran Aug. 13-15 in Austin, Texas.
By the numbers
- 2 - competing ICE resolutions approved by the DNC
- 0 - binding effect on the party platform
- 2028 - year the platform will be settled at the convention
Yes, but: The action was symbolic, not binding, so it does not resolve the party's final platform position.
What's next: The Democratic platform will be written at the 2028 convention.