This is how the system was designed to work.

Friends,

I’m saying this proudly and with my whole chest: we must Abolish ICE.

Just look at what they’re doing right now: 

Last month, they took a mother and her three children—one just a third grader—from a New York dairy farm and shipped them nearly 2,000 miles to Texas. 

They did everything by the book—court appearances, asylum paperwork, legal process. No charges. No crime. And still, ICE disappeared them.

As if that weren’t enough: ICE deported a father from Maryland who was a legal U.S. resident to El Salvador before he ever had a hearing. 

A judge paused the deportation and the Trump administration let the plane take off anyway. Now Chief Justice John Roberts, serving as a concierge to Donald Trump, just blocked another judge’s order to return him to the U.S.

These aren’t mistakes. They’re not bugs in the system.

They are the system.

ICE was not built to keep people safe. It was built to disappear them.

I’m old enough to remember when ICE didn’t exist. 

Before 9/11, before the corporate war on terror, before the twin engines of Islamophobia and state surveillance became bipartisan gospel. 

ICE was created by both parties—with overwhelming Democratic support—not as a tool of justice, but as an instrument of fear. 

To detain, dehumanize, and divide.

It’s been run by Republicans, maintained by Democrats, and protected by a political class that sees immigrants not as people, but as pawns in their next campaign ad.

And while liberals wring their hands over Trump’s cruelty, they forget:

Obama deported more people than any president in U.S. history. Biden campaigned on “humanity,” then kept the machine humming. 

There is no high ground in this duopoly—just shared responsibility for a legacy of pain.

ICE is not failing. It is functioning exactly as intended. And we cannot fix what was built to harm.

We have to abolish it—and build something new.

That’s why I’m running with the Green Party. Because we can’t abolish cruelty inside a system that profits from it. 

Because the corporate parties will never dismantle the very structures they depend on. 

Because we need a movement built not on donors and deals—but on dignity, solidarity, and truth.

         

Butch Ware is running for Governor of California as a Green Party candidate to fight for a government that puts people first, not corporations. An anti-imperialist historian, scholar of revolution, and lifelong champion for justice, Dr. Ware is committed to building a California where healthcare is a right, housing is affordable, and our environment is protected. Join the rebellion and help us create a better future for all. Donate today, and let’s show the corporate parties that the people are in charge!

Paid for by Butch Ware for Governor 2026