"The legacy of "Defund the Police" will always be fraught for the Democratic Party. A rallying cry among activists and a smattering of politicians during the George Floyd summer of 2020, it became an albatross for Democrats afterward. And there were few tangible policy gains: The departments that were defunded eventually were, for the most part, refunded. Zohran Mamdani, the democratic-socialist mayor of New York, had to run away from the slogan as he surged to victory last year."
"The slogan actually predates Defund the Police; it came to the forefront of progressive politics in the spring and summer of 2018, when Donald Trump was trying to build his border wall while vilifying immigration as much as possible. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who had shocked the world that June by winning a primary against one of the top House Democrats, made a highly publicized visit to the border."
Defund the Police emerged as a prominent slogan in 2020 but proved politically fraught for Democrats and produced few lasting policy changes, as many defunded departments were later refunded. Prominent politicians who once embraced the slogan distanced themselves during subsequent campaigns. Abolish ICE predates that slogan and rose during 2018 opposition to immigration enforcement and the border wall, with high-profile visits and calls to end detention practices. Progressive momentum on immigration collided with public backlash after border crossings increased, and major Democratic leaders did not dismantle ICE, allowing the agency to persist.
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