WASHINGTON — Rep. Delia Ramirez, a progressive House Democrat, is calling for the complete abolition of the Department of Homeland Security after federal agents raided the Washington, DC, home of “Squad” member Rep. Ilhan Omar early Monday.
Ramirez’s proposed Reimagining Safety Act would also end immigration detention nationwide. The legislation follows last week’s fatal shooting of Oscar Belgal in the Bronx by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
“Just this week, our communities were reminded that DHS is a weapon: pointed at a father shot in front of his 5-year-old and at Congresswoman Omar, who is using her voice to demand an end to fascism,” Ramirez, D-Ill., said in a statement to The Intercept.
“It is clear that now is the time to reimagine our safety, dismantle DHS, abolish ICE, and end the use of broad authorities to circumvent our rights and due process,” she added.
The Department of Homeland Security was created in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Its formation was part of a sweeping federal overhaul designed to improve intelligence-sharing and coordinate the government’s domestic security operations.
During the 2026 midterm primary season, Democrats in races across the country have increasingly advocated abolishing ICE in response to the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement campaign.
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The controversy intensified Monday, when agents with Homeland Security Investigations, an investigative arm of DHS, searched Omar’s Washington home. The operation was tied to a yearslong criminal investigation into the Somalia-born lawmaker’s immigration paperwork.
Border czar Tom Homan told Fox News that federal agents submitted evidence to a DC court to secure a search warrant for the sitting congresswoman’s residence. A federal judge approved the warrant, he said.
Omar has denounced the investigation as a politically motivated abuse of the justice system. Republicans, meanwhile, have repeatedly questioned her immigration history and her husband’s net worth.
Under Ramirez’s proposal, DHS would be replaced by a newly named Department of Community Safety. The agency would direct funding toward violence-prevention programs and other community-based public safety efforts, according to The Intercept.
The legislation would distribute many existing DHS responsibilities across the federal government. The Justice Department would assume immigration enforcement, the Treasury Department would oversee customs enforcement, and the Department of Transportation would manage the Coast Guard. The bill would also curb the secretary of state’s authority to designate foreign terrorist organizations.
“DHS is not rogue,” Ramirez said. “For 23 years, since its inception, DHS has been utilized by the government to target and persecute those they consider the public enemy — whether it is Muslim-Americans, Haitians escaping violence, Latinos yearning for a better life, or dissenting voices.”
The Reimagining Safety Act faces steep odds in Congress. The House and Senate are both scheduled to remain on recess until after the Nov. 3 midterm elections, and the measure is unlikely to advance in either chamber.
