Safety Can’t Start by Repealing Our Security

By Angel Oakley, candidate for Congress, Illinois’ 3rd District

Rep. Delia Ramirez calls her Reimagining Safety Act a new vision of safety. I agree with parts of that vision: better disaster response, stronger oversight of federal agencies, and protecting Americans’ privacy. But I’ve read the text, and it does things the headlines don’t say.

Start with detention. Section 302 orders the Attorney General to release “any noncitizen detained” within six months. There is no exception for violent crime. The bill also repeals the main detention authorities, removes ankle monitors, and ends detention contracts.

Then deportation. Section 106 bars removal unless Congress enacts a joint resolution approving that person’s removal. ICE reported 442,637 removals in fiscal 2025. Congress can’t vote on hundreds of thousands of cases one at a time. In practice, removals stop. *

Then terrorism. The bill repeals the terrorism inadmissibility ground and ends the Foreign Terrorist Organization designation power after one year, and every existing designation terminates. It also bars fusion center funding, repeals national security letters, and ends existing sanctions under IEEPA after 180 days unless Congress acts. The sponsor says these laws overreach. Narrowing them is a fair debate. Repealing them with no replacement standard is not reform.

Then what’s missing. The bill abolishes DHS with no effective date, but never names Border Patrol, the Secret Service, or Homeland Security Investigations, which investigates trafficking and child exploitation. Its “separate civil immigration system” is two study panels. USCIS already has a record 12.1 million pending cases, and the bill moves it to DOJ without a word on processing. **

Then the money. Section 402 lists Medicare for All, universal basic income, free college, and more as programs the rescinded funds could pay for. It creates none of them and estimates no costs. The new Department has no Inspector General, and no grant has performance metrics, audits, or clawbacks. A bill that criticizes DHS for weak oversight builds a department with none.

There is a better way. I support cooperation among federal, state, and local officials, including at the jail. I would strike the provisions that release criminals and revise the parts of the TRUST Act that block that cooperation. I support negotiating a Dignity framework as part of comprehensive reform, built on background checks, restitution, and back taxes. And I would clear the backlog by automating approvals for clean cases, where documents and sponsorship are complete and no security flag appears. A person would handle every complex case and audit the results.

This race isn’t about Democrat versus Republican. It’s about preserving American values and strengthening our Union versus dismantling our system. Rep. Ramirez says community groups helped write this bill. I invite her to defend it, section by section, in a public debate.