TX-Sen: Democrat Beto O'Rourke says he's 'open' to abolishing ICE

Democratic Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke has resisted pressure to jump on the "Abolish ICE" train, but the congressman fell short of taking the idea entirely off the table during a recent interview with KUT-FM.

The congressman said Wednesday that he's open to doing "whatever it takes," including abolishing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, to cease the practice of separating children from their parents who crossed the border illegally.

O'Rourke is challenging GOP incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz in the midterm elections in November.

Nearly a dozen lawmakers including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) have joined the movement to dismantle the agency altogether, according to CNN.

What did he say?

O'Rourke told KUT that he supports immigration laws, but he wants to abolish some of ICE's practices, including separating children from their parents at the border.

"I'm open to doing whatever it takes. If it's reorganizing the Department of Homeland Security and changing the functions of ICE, having greater accountability, abolishing that agency altogether, that's fine," he said.

"But there will still have to be enforcement of our immigration laws in this country. So whether you want ICE to do it or you want to go back to Immigration and Naturalization Services, whether you want the Federal Bureau of Investigation to do that — someone is going to enforce our federal immigration laws in this country," O'Rourke continued.

How does he propose changing the immigration system?

O'Rourke said the first step would be for Congress to re-write the laws "to reflect the reality on the ground, to reflect our interests, to reflect our values."

He said he would like to see legislation that protects so-called Dreamers from deportation and grants them citizenship.

"We already know that they're serving in the armed forces, that they're teaching our kids in our classrooms, that they are contributing to the success of this country, of our communities and the states in which we live. I want to make sure that they can contribute to their maximum potential as U.S. citizens. I do not want that to come at the price of their parents, the original Dreamers," O'Rourke told KUT.

The Senate candidate said there are millions of immigrants in the U.S. who are working the "crappiest jobs in this country that no person born in the United States of America is willing to take right now," and he wants them to be free from the fear of deportation.

What else?

O'Rourke said he's willing to work with lawmakers who wish to abolish ICE, calling their intent "noble" and adding that he would also work with those who want to reform the agency.

He would like to see Democratic and Republican lawmakers work together to find common ground.

"I think it's incredibly important to lay out our principles, our vision. But it's just as important to get something done, to make things better than they are right now," O'Rourke said.

According to a recent poll last week, Cruz has a 5-point lead over O-Rourke.