Highlighting the fact that America's inhumane treatment of immigrants reaches far beyond the despicable behavior of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—an agency that a growing number of citizens and lawmakers have said they want to abolish—Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) argued in a series of tweets on Tuesday that Congress must go further and "abolish the cruel, dysfunctional immigration system we have today and pass comprehensive immigration reform."

"Bernie calls for abolishing our entire immigration system, which is honestly way further to the left than solely abolishing ICE." —Max Rivlin-Nadler, The Appeal

"That will mean restructuring the agencies that enforce our immigration laws, including ICE," Sanders wrote, noting that he opposed the establishment of ICE in 2002. "We must not be about tearing small children away from their families. We must not be about deporting DREAMers, young people who have lived in this country virtually their entire lives."

In 2002 I voted against the creation of DHS and the establishment of ICE. That was the right vote. Now, it is time to do what Americans overwhelmingly want: abolish the cruel, dysfunctional immigration system we have today and pass comprehensive immigration reform. — Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) July 3, 2018 That will mean restructuring the agencies that enforce our immigration laws, including ICE. We must not be about tearing small children away from their families. We must not be about deporting DREAMers, young people who have lived in this country virtually their entire lives. — Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) July 3, 2018 We must not be about forcing over 10 million undocumented people, many of whom have been here for decades, to continue living in fear and anxiety. Congress must do what the American people want. Let us create a humane and rational immigration system. — Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) July 3, 2018

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Advocacy groups and activists celebrated Sanders' Twitter statement on Tuesday as a testament to the strength of the grassroots movement pushing for far-reaching reform that would both end the Trump administration's barbaric practices and confront the systemic cruelty of the American immigration system that existed long before Trump arrived on the political scene.

The power of a movement. pic.twitter.com/wHntPvEwsB — Justice Democrats (@justicedems) July 3, 2018 This is a good statement. A reminder that even when we #AbolishICE we'll need to change our entire immigration system so it serves the people and not capitalism. Also a good reminder that move our allies on issues and that we don't need to ditch them if they stumble. https://t.co/2oM5fumFuJ — Andrew Porter (@andrew_r_porter) July 3, 2018

"Bernie calls for abolishing our entire immigration system, which is honestly way further to the left than solely abolishing ICE," Max Rivlin-Nadler, immigration and criminal justice reporter for The Appeal, argued in response to Sanders' statement. "Which, I know, is not what people who say 'abolish ICE' only want—they too want to change our entire immigration system. Just saying that this possibly encompasses an even broader and more transformative change, albeit under a less catchy chant."