Rep. Delia Ramirez proposes abolishing DHS to create Department of Community Safety

Rep. Delia C. Ramirez, a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives, has introduced legislation called the Reimagining Safety Act that would repeal the Homeland Security Act and abolish the Department of Homeland Security. The text and summaries circulated in news reports state the bill would terminate ICE, CBP, TSA and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and replace DHS with a new Department of Community Safety that restructures immigration and security functions into separate authorities. Ramirez framed the proposal as a corrective to what she described as the department’s origins and conduct; multiple sources quote her saying DHS was founded 'out of a profound national trauma' and arguing it exercised an 'overbroad mission' and used tools that 'terrorize us.'

The legislation would require the closure of all immigration detention facilities, according to reporting, and would reorient public-safety work such as gun-violence prevention and disaster response through a public-health approach inside the new department. One source lists Representatives Adelita Grijalva, Jim McGovern and Rashida Tlaib as co-sponsors, and another outlet situates the filing on a Tuesday shortly before the midterm elections, noting that some Democrats have been moving away from 'abolish ICE' messaging as campaigns approach. Different outlets present the proposal with distinct emphases. news.ssbcrack.com and theintercept.com highlight the bill’s broader dismantling of post‑9/11 security structures and its call to repeal certain terrorism laws and surveillance authorities, while Washington Examiner framed the move in electoral terms, stressing timing ahead of midterms and political risk for Democrats. theintercept.com connected the bill’s introduction to recent high-profile incidents involving federal immigration enforcement, citing a nearby report of shootings by federal immigration agents and deaths in ICE custody as part of the bill’s immediate context; that linkage is presented as context by the outlet rather than as a legislative trigger recorded in the bill text. The Reimagining Safety Act, as described in the reporting, would not simply eliminate existing agencies but would reconstitute their functions under a Department of Community Safety intended to prioritize civil and human rights and public-health approaches to safety. Reporting indicates advocacy groups and grassroots organisations have expressed support for the proposal, and one source lists more than 40 advocacy groups backing aspects of Ramirez’s positions on civil liberties and agency overreach. The articles together document what the bill would change institutionally and what Ramirez and supporters argue motivates the measure, but they do not provide an independent legal analysis of how quickly the statutory repeal and institutional reorganisation could proceed if the bill advanced, nor do they report legislative supporters' vote counts or formal endorsements from congressional leadership. Coverage also does not supply a text-quoted timetable for closing detention facilities or the operational steps for transferring responsibilities from the abolished agencies to new authorities. Lawmakers and commentators quoted or summarised in the coverage frame the proposal differently: supporters portrayed it as a rights-protecting reimagining of federal safety structures, while other outlets emphasised political risk and the radical nature of abolishing a major cabinet department established after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The reporting provides the central legislative aims, named co-sponsors cited in one source, the claim set by Ramirez about DHS’s founding and conduct, and the policy details highlighted by Ramirez’s office and allied advocates, while leaving open the legislative prospects and operational specifics for implementation.