Molly Hensley-Clancy and Nidhi Prakash report for Buzzfeed:
Talk of replacing ICE, or even of the agency’s problems, has all but disappeared from the Democratic campaign trail, and from Democrats’ political platforms. For all the work by activists to push abolishing ICE into the Democratic Party debate, the idea was starkly unpopular with voters: By late last summer, an AP/NORC poll showed only a quarter of Democrats backed the idea. The catchphrase that launched the movement, “abolish ICE,” has been rejected entirely by the presidential contenders that once seemed to back it. The only place it has appeared: relentless Republican attack ads.
As usual, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D., N.Y.) has been a shameless weathervane: Her campaign now denies she ever said the agency should be abolished. (She did say it should be abolished.)