What If the Next Democratic President Governs Like Trump?

The greatest share of these employees came from Homeland Security Investigations, an ICE sub-agency that typically investigates important crimes such as human trafficking and child-exploitation crimes. At the moment, 87 percent of HSI’s agents now work for Enforcement and Removal Operations, the other major ICE subcomponent. Restoring those agents to their original workforces would significantly reduce ICE’s headcount from the outset and allow them to perform their originally intended duties in law enforcement.

In the omnibus spending bill that Congress passed earlier this summer, ICE is also set to receive more than $100 billion in funding over the next four years, most of which will go to facilities and border-wall construction, and hire an additional 10,000 agents. The next Democratic president could significantly reduce headcounts through a reduction in force, perhaps by firing every agent hired since 2024. The Trump administration’s decision to drastically reduce hiring standards for incoming ICE agents would more than justify such a sweeping action.

What should be done with what’s left of ICE? The next Democratic president has a few options. One would be to reverse the flow of agent transfers. Instead of mass firings, the remaining ICE agents could be reassigned to other federal law-enforcement agencies to help pursue other administration priorities, like fighting white-collar crime, policing tax evasion by wealthy Americans, and enforcing civil-rights laws. Alternatively, the president could merge what’s left with another existing DHS subcomponent and erase ICE’s legacy altogether, similar to what the Trump administration did to the U.S. Agency for International Development.