Fact check: Did Haley Stevens really vote to ‘fund and thank’ ICE?

In a new campaign video, Abdul El-Sayed accuses Haley Stevens of voting to ‘fund and thank ICE.’ But did she?
Yes — but there’s more to the story
The votes in question applied to broader policy proposals of which ICE was just one part

Did Haley Stevens really vote to thank US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a federal agency that has been a target of widespread criticism within her party?

It’s a claim made repeatedly by Abdul El-Sayed, her Democratic primary competitor in the US Senate race — first in comments during a televised debate last week and again in a 15-second campaign video released this week.

“Haley Stevens voted to fund and thank ICE,” a disembodied voice says in the video, which then cuts to footage of El-Sayed holding up bags of “good” ice and contrasting the frozen stuff with the federal agency he says “operates outside of the law to terrorize our neighbors.”

Bridge Michigan scrutinized El-Sayed’s claim and Stevens’ voting record as the pair battle for the Democratic nomination to pursue Michigan’s open US Senate seat. The winner will face Republican Mike Rogers in a general election to replace retiring Sen. Gary Peters.

Here are the facts:

The context

The agency responsible for enforcing US immigration law has long been a subject of political controversy, with conservatives often supporting greater ICE funding and more aggressive deportation campaigns, while many liberals criticize the agency’s tactics as overly harsh and cruel.

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ICE-related conflict has boiled over since President Donald Trump took office for his second term and began directing the agency to dramatically and visibly escalate its deportation efforts, deploying masked agents to city streets in surges that have repeatedly turned deadly.

While Republican leaders have been more likely to support ICE’s actions, Democratic officials’ stances have ranged from calls for reforms such as body cameras and a mask ban (as Stevens has done) to calls to abolish ICE altogether (as El-Sayed has done).

Both El-Sayed and Stevens have been critical of the agency’s actions in Michigan, including a since-abandoned plan to turn a Romulus warehouse into a detention center.

Thanking ICE (and condemning terrorism)

Stevens was one of 75 Democrats to support a June 9, 2025 House resolution that condemned an antisemitic terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado, affirmed “free and open communication” between state, local and federal law enforcement and expressed “gratitude” to law enforcement including ICE for “protecting the homeland.”

In last week’s debate, Stevens distanced herself from the ICE thank-you portion of the resolution, blaming Republicans for politicizing it.

“Instead of bringing us together, Republicans put in a cynical point about thanking ICE,” she said. “I am always going to stand up to violence, and I just wish my opponent wouldn’t pursue the cynical approaches of Republicans.”

Funding ICE (and a whole lot else)

Stevens was one of 185 House Democrats to vote “yes” on House Resolution 1102 of 2024 — a $1.2 trillion funding package that avoided a partial government shutdown by funding several agencies through the end of the fiscal year, including the Department of Homeland Security.

The vast majority of Democrats in both the House and Senate voted in support of the package while about half of Republicans did.

At the time, supporters called the funding vote a necessary compromise to keep the government open. The Senate version included an oversight measure allowing Congress members to conduct unannounced inspections of ICE facilities.

Critics on the Democratic side condemned provisions that increased ICE detention beds and border agents, while critics on the Republican side called for deeper spending cuts and stricter border security provisions.

Stevens did not issue a statement explaining her vote at the time.

In response to a Bridge Michigan inquiry, Stevens campaign spokesperson Joetta Appiah declined to explain the vote but said Stevens believes an “out of control” ICE must be “fundamentally overhauled” before receiving more money to expand its operations.

Appiah highlighted Stevens’ recent bill to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of misconduct by ICE agents.

The bottom line

Stevens voted yes on legislative measures that funded and thanked ICE.

But ICE was just one piece of those broad measures, one of which condemned a terrorist attack and another of which staved off a partial government shutdown — details El-Sayed’s campaign video failed to mention.

Fact check: Did Haley Stevens really vote to ‘fund and thank’ ICE?

The context

Thanking ICE (and condemning terrorism)

Funding ICE (and a whole lot else)

The bottom line

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