A Democratic National Committee panel voted 27-12 to advance a resolution urging congressional Democrats to abolish ICE, create citizenship pathways for illegal migrants and end detention for people held solely over civil immigration violations.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
A Democratic National Committee panel voted Saturday to advance a sweeping immigration resolution calling on Democrats in Congress to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, establish pathways to citizenship for illegal migrants and end detention for people held solely over civil immigration matters.
The DNC Resolution Committee approved Resolution #27 by a 27-12 vote.
The committee itself cannot change federal law, and Saturday’s action does not defund ICE or alter existing immigration enforcement. The panel’s recommendations, however, help determine which resolutions advance within the Democratic Party and can ultimately become expressions of official party policy.
Resolution #27 explicitly calls for Democratic lawmakers to pursue legislation dismantling the federal agency responsible for major portions of interior immigration enforcement.
“The DNC urges Democratic members of Congress to craft legislation abolishing ICE and enacting immigration reform that provides pathways to citizenship, protects workers, and ensures dignity for all impacted people,” the resolution states.
The measure also takes aim at immigration detention, drawing a distinction between detention under civil immigration law and incarceration imposed as punishment following a criminal conviction.
“The DNC affirms that immigration detention is civil [law], not punitive, and no person should be caged for a civil matter,” the resolution states.
Under that position, nonviolent migrants facing civil immigration proceedings would no longer be held in detention solely because of their immigration cases.
The proposal represents a significant shift in enforcement philosophy because ICE is the federal agency charged with identifying, arresting, detaining and removing certain people who are unlawfully present in the United States or otherwise subject to immigration enforcement.
Resolution #27 pairs its call to eliminate the agency with broader immigration changes designed to provide legal status and eventual citizenship opportunities for illegal migrants while extending workplace protections and other safeguards.
Because the vote occurred within a DNC committee rather than Congress, none of those policies takes effect as a result of the resolution. Enacting them would require federal legislation approved by lawmakers and signed into law.
The committee’s action nevertheless gives Democratic lawmakers and voters a clearer indication of the immigration policies being considered within the party’s internal policymaking structure.
The debate comes as the scale of potential migration to the United States remains substantial.
Gallup estimated that approximately 900 million people worldwide would like to leave their home countries permanently if given the opportunity, including about 134 million people who would prefer to migrate to the United States.
The organization reported those findings in April 2026, underscoring the continuing demand for migration to the United States even as American policymakers remain deeply divided over border enforcement, detention, deportation and pathways to legal status.
Supporters of the DNC resolution frame immigration detention as inappropriate when a person is being held over a civil violation rather than punished for a criminal offense. The measure accordingly calls for an immigration system centered on legal status, worker protections and alternatives to detention.
The resolution does not, however, itself determine how people accused or convicted of separate criminal offenses would be handled, nor does Saturday’s committee vote change existing federal authority over immigration enforcement.
The practical effect for now is political rather than legal.
By approving Resolution #27 by a 27-12 margin, the DNC committee has formally advanced a position urging Democratic members of Congress to replace ICE with a different immigration framework while offering citizenship pathways to illegal migrants and rejecting detention solely for civil immigration violations.
Whether those recommendations ultimately become broader Democratic Party policy — or are translated into legislation on Capitol Hill — will depend on subsequent action within the party and Congress.
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