Ryan scoffs at bid to abolish agency

WASHINGTON — Liberal Democrats unveiled legislation Thursday aimed at abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, hopeful of galvanizing voters for the midterm elections. The House’s top Republican scoffed that the measure makes him “feel very good” about November.

The dueling view of the bill’s potential impact is the latest example of how immigration looms as a vote-moving issue this fall, when Democrats hope to wrest control of the House and perhaps the Senate from the GOP. Public concern over the problem shows no signs of receding soon, as President Donald Trump’s administration struggles to reunite more than 2,000 migrant children separated

from parents caught entering the U.S. illegally.

“It’s the craziest position I’ve ever seen, and they are just tripping over themselves to move too far to the left,” House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., told reporters Thursday about Democrats’ bill. “They’re out of the mainstream of America.”

While many liberals say Immigration and Customs Enforcement has terrified the immigrant community by abusively conducting roundups outside schools and job sites, Republicans say it helps curb crime and illegal drugs. Republicans and some Democrats see abolition as political overreach that will help the GOP paint Democratic candidates as extremists.

Under the bill, a commission would assign Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s duties to other agencies.