Hakeem Jeffries Plays Dumb on Abolish ICE: “I Don’t Understand”
Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries still refuses to engage with growing calls to abolish ICE, even as the agency is in the nadir of its popularity.
The Left Hook podcast host Wajahat Ali read Jeffries a list of facts when they appeared together Friday on The Joy Reid Show.
“Sixty-five percent of people taken by ICE had no convictions, that’s from the Cato Institute, a right-wing institute. ICE has killed eight people this year alone that we know of.… Over 60 percent of Americans now disapprove of ICE. That means in three weeks, it’s gone from 30 percent to 60 percent,” Ali said. “If you lead on something, people will follow. It seems the wind is behind your back for the first time ever.… You said you wanna rein in ICE.… Why not lead, and say ‘abolish ICE’?”
“What you’re telling us is that you want our taxpayer dollars to pay for a lawless, masked, armed agency to continue terrorizing our cities,” Ali continued. “I’m trying to figure out how you as a leader can be telling Americans that their taxpayer dollars should be going to ICE.”
.@RepJeffries "can't understand" my questions about why he won't lead and embrace "Abolish ICE."
— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) February 15, 2026
I was speaking English, and my microphone wasn't muted.
Listen for yourselves. pic.twitter.com/Fhkwdsitqy
“I don’t understand anything that you just said,” Jeffries replied curtly.
“I spoke English,” Ali replied.
“I don’t understand anything that you’ve just said to me when I’ve made clear that taxpayer dollars should be used to make life more affordable for the American people, not brutalize or kill them. That’s the whole reason we’re in this fight right now,” Jeffries continued. “That’s the whole reason that DHS is getting ready to shut down.”
While Jeffries is right regarding why DHS is currently (partially) shut down, it will surely reopen. And some are skeptical that the demands of Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are strong enough to stop ICE from committing more harm, or if agents will even abide by them when the moment comes.
Ali again asked Jeffries to take a stance on abolishing ICE.
“I’m gonna use the language that I wanna use; you can use the language that you wanna use. And the language that I’m using right now relates to these type of bold, meaningful, dramatic changes that are designed to save lives right now.”
Can asking ICE agents to wear body cameras and not detain U.S. citizens (which is already illegal) really be described as “bold, meaningful, dramatic” change?
“I think Wajahat Ali was clear. He acknowledges the current fight, but asks Representative Jeffries to lead on the long term goal of abolishing ICE,” one liberal user shared on X. “I don’t understand the leader’s reticence on that very simple, and frankly moderate, position.”