Casar calls to #AbolishICE

Council Member Greg Casar joined the chorus of voices asking for the end of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Though this may come as no surprise, Casar made it official on Wednesday, signing a joint statement endorsed by state legislators, mayors and other public officials nationwide. In a statement to the press, Casar explained, “I’ve joined the call to #AbolishICE because ICE terrorizes communities, rips families apart for no good reason, and fabricates propaganda and lies. ICE has admitted in court to conducting politically motivated operations in Austin. ICE has lied to us about which of our Austin families they’ve arrested, and their for-profit detention centers are rife with abuse. They have acted as Trump’s deportation force, propaganda machine, and secret police. … ICE has been a disaster for the 15 years that it has existed. By expanding ICE into a multi-billion dollar rogue agency, our federal government has dedicated enormous amounts of new resources to family detention and separation. We can save money, focus on real safety issues, and most importantly keep families together by ending this failed experiment. It’s time to #AbolishICE.” At the time of publication, Casar was just one of three Texas officials that signed the letter. El Paso City Representative Alexsandra Annello and Dallas City Council Member Philip Kingston are also among the 153 people who have signed the letter, which can be read in its entirety here.