General Discussion

As Senate Minority Leader, Schumer obviously has an important role to play when it comes to passing legislation to curb ICE -- or making deals to force changes to ICE's current policies -- so it's not like he isn't going to be out there talking about this.

But when he does talk about it, he needs to be mindful that he is in fact a politician, and not just a bureaucrat. The mistake Schumer -- and other Democratic leaders, to be fair -- often make, is that they don't seem to be capable of fully channeling the anger that Americans are feeling about certain issues at any given time. "Commonsense reforms" might be something that actually makes sense in this case -- but the use of the phrase sounds like the kind of classic lazy politician-speak that voters have long learned to associate with "do nothing."

ICE absolutely needs to be brought to heel and restored as a serious organization which follows the Constitution and isn't involved in the violent oppression of the public. In my mind -- along with all the necessary reforms that are needed -- that would likely involve a rebranding so it's no longer known as ICE. In essence, that would essentially abolish ICE without abolishing immigration and customs enforcement -- so in that regard, maybe "Abolish ICE" would be more palatable if it borrowed that old Republican framing of "Repeal and replace ICE."

At least that would be an upgrade from "commonsense reforms." Messaging is key here -- as ever -- and I agree that Chuck Schumer probably shouldn't be leading the charge in that department, since he's demonstrated repeatedly that he's not very good at it.