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Despite #AbolishICE calls, ICE was as busy as ever last week -- here's what they did
Immigration and Customs Enforcement gave notices of inspection to nearly 3,000 businesses from July 16 and July 20. The employer checks resulted in 32 arrests. (Image source: YouTube video screenshot)

Despite #AbolishICE calls, ICE was as busy as ever last week -- here's what they did

Immigration and Customs Enforcement had one of its busiest weeks ever in the midst of calls for the agency's elimination by some Democrats, Yahoo News reported.

As part of an increased effort to crack down on employers that hire illegal immigrants, ICE served audit notices to nearly 3,000 business owners between July 16 and 20, letting them know that ICE would examine their records to make sure they are complying with hiring laws.

"Employers need to understand that the integrity of their employment records is just as important to the federal government as the integrity of their tax files and banking records," said acting ICE executive associate director Derek Benner in a statement.

What were the results of the work?

ICE's ramped-up efforts during the most recent fiscal year have outpaced fiscal 2017 significantly. Since October 2017, ICE's 984 workplace arrests amount to more than five times the number of arrests in the previous fiscal year.

ICE has opened more than 6,000 investigations into businesses suspected of employing illegal immigrants in fiscal 2018, compared to just over 1,799 last fiscal year.

The July 16-20 employer checks resulted in 32 arrests, and was the second part of an operation that produced 61 arrests between Jan. 29 and March 30.

The end of #AbolishICE?

As families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border get reunited, and the furor over the Trump administration's zero-tolerance policy begins to subside, some Democrats are pulling away from the movement to eliminate ICE.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said Wednesday that Democrats who jumped on the abolish ICE bandwagon "didn't really think it through and talk about it in a way that made good sense to people."

Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-Texas), who is challenging Sen. Ted Cruz this November, dismissed the call to abolish ICE as a "slogan or bumper sticker" that "does nothing to resolve any issues."

"It is the practices, it is the way in which we are treating our fellow human beings that needs to be changed, and that won't come with a slogan or a bumper sticker or the abolition of one department," O'Rourke said on the Powerhouse Politics podcast.

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