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Jay Vaingankar blasts Democrats over ICE reform approach
Vaingankar chided ICE for being younger than him and described it as an “overreaction to 9/11.”
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Jeffin T. Kaleekal - Wed, 06, May 2026
- 04:01 EDT
- 20
Congressional candidate Jay Vaingankar / Jay Vaingankar via Instagram
Indian-origin Democrat and U.S. congressional hopeful Jay Vaingankar intensified his attacks against U.S. immigration enforcement agencies and called out the Democratic Party for pursuing half-measures instead of complete abolition.
Vaingankar, who is hoping to represent New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District in the U.S. Congress, in a public address highlighted the need to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), noting that the country had successfully enforced immigration laws before the agency was formed.
In his address, Vaingankar labeled softer oversight measures proposed by Democrats as “nonsense.” He called out measures like identification QR codes and body cams on agents, noting that such “half-measures” are why “Democrats lose elections.”
Potentially the first Gen Z congressman, the 27-year-old from Mercer County accused ICE of being “funded by the same military industrial complex that funds too many corrupt politicians in Washington, D.C.”
Also Read: Indian American Impact backs Jay Vaingankar for Congress
He noted that ICE was created in 2003 and described the federal agency as an “overreaction to 9/11.”
Vaingankar said, “I'm the youngest person on this stage, and even I am older than ICE.”
He continued, “We were able to enforce our immigration laws before 2003, and we can rely on local law enforcement to go after violent criminals in our communities.”
This kind of nonsense is why Democrats lose elections. Half measures aren't working, we must abolish ICE. pic.twitter.com/tM3vKJ90Lr
— Jay Vaingankar for Jersey (@jayforjersey) May 5, 2026
The young Democrat suggested that the money being invested in ICE should be channeled into funding legal immigration pathways.
Vaingankar claimed, “Republicans have deliberately defunded the system to keep Democrats divided on what we actually need to do with ICE, while we overwhelm our immigration judges, while people languish applying for asylum, while people wait in really long lines for H-1B visas.”
He continued, “We have to actually fix this system by abolishing ICE and funding the legal immigration pathways. Half measures are no longer working.”
Vaingankar announced his candidacy in December 2025 and has since been campaigning on public issues like health care, housing, reproductive rights, cost of living and public transportation, among other key focus areas.
The son of Indian immigrants, Vaingankar graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and worked on Biden’s successful 2020 campaign. After Biden won, he took a job in the Biden White House’s Office of Management and Administration. In 2022, Vaingankar became a policy adviser in the Energy Department, where he remained until Biden left office at the beginning of this year.
Other candidates vying for the office include Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D-Trenton), Somerset Commissioner Shanel Robinson (D-Franklin), East Windsor Mayor Brad Cohen, Plainfield Mayor Adrian Mapp, fitness studio owner Kyle Little and former West Windsor mayoral candidate Sujit Singh.
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