An undercover video caught Democratic congressional candidate Stefany Shaheen calling to dismantle ICE and put federal agents “out of work.” Just two days later, she flatly denied advocating for abolishing immigration enforcement during a debate with her Republican opponent.
Shaheen, the daughter of longtime Democrat senator Jeanne Shaheen, made the remarks in an undercover video obtained by The Daily Wire. The footage contradicts her exchange with Republican opponent Anthony DiLorenzo during an Oct. 19 debate for New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District.
“My opponent has advocated for abolishing immigration enforcement,” DiLorenzo said during the ‘live free or die’ debate.
“That is not true,” Shaheen fired back.
“You said it,” DiLorenzo countered, referring to her previous campaign comments where she called for dismantling ICE, according to the New Hampshire Journal.
“I did not,” Shaheen insisted.
But in the Oct. 17 undercover footage, Shaheen explicitly endorsed abolishing ICE while discussing how Democrats could strip the agency of funding and bring deportations to a screeching halt.
The undercover journalist asks Shaheen how Democrats would be able to stop ICE, referencing her mother’s willingness to work with Republicans and recent government shutdown battles.
“I think we have to pull back the funding for Homeland Security,” Shaheen says. “And we need to dismantle ICE.”
She goes on to identify sweeping funding cuts as the most effective way to achieve that goal.
“I think the number one thing we can do is pull back the funding,” Shaheen says, adding that the cuts would eventually “put them out of work.”
The Daily Wire reached out to Shaheen’s campaign for comment. The entrepreneur is running to represent New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District. Her mother, Jeanne Shaheen, is a longtime Democratic senator from the state but is not seeking reelection this cycle. In 2024, the district narrowly voted for Kamala Harris. The Cook Political report ranks the race as “Likely Democrat.”
Meanwhile, Shaheen’s campaign website calls for ICE to be “completely overhauled.”
“Agents must adhere to the same basic standards we demand from our local police departments here in New Hampshire. This includes requiring body cameras, banning masks, stopping warrantless searches, and ending ICE raids in schools, churches, and hospitals,” her policy states. “And there will be no ICE warehouses anywhere in New Hampshire.
ICE operates under the Department of Homeland Security and is responsible for enforcing federal immigration laws, including carrying out arrests and deportations. Thanks to the One Big Beautiful bill, Republicans secured unprecedented DHS funding to hire thousands of new agents and supercharge deportations.
Still, immigration is emerging as a political vulnerability for some Republicans ahead of the November elections. High-profile shootings involving ICE agents and leadership turmoil at DHS have given Democrats an opening to revive hard-line opposition to immigration enforcement — a position that hurt the party at the ballot box just two years ago.
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