Every Democratic candidate in 2026, from dog catcher to state senate to Congress, should make abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, a part of their platform.
Masked ICE agents, who’ve been emboldened by President Donald Trump, have been rampaging through the streets of the United States: snatching people — including U.S. citizens — and harassing whole communities. And now we’ve recoiled in horror at the sight of ICE agent Jonathan Ross killing Minneapolis mother Renee Nicole Good. Her killing represents a seminal moment in American politics, and if Democrats can’t seize this moment politically and morally, then they shouldn’t even call themselves an opposition party.
The biggest political swings during midterm elections happen when there is an obvious bad guy or at least a clear message on where voters should focus their anger. From Ken Starr’s witch hunt against President Bill Clinton to President George W. Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” stunt in Iraq to the 2010 “shellacking” that followed President Barack Obama’s poor rollout of the Affordable Care Act, voters are often driven by anger at particular issue and the president responsible for it.
Trump isn’t popular, and it’s with his blessing that ICE is doing what it’s doing, providing Democrats the perfect combination of an unpopular president and a big government issue people hate.
This is a preview of Jason Johnson’s latest column. Read the full column here.
