Enacted during the post-9/11 frenzy of anti-immigrant sentiment, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a relatively new government agency with a documented history of what many see as the persecution of communities of color. ICE has reportedly considered those with certain tattoos to be gang members, targeted people for wearing certain clothes as argued by the ACLU, or even those who have been the victims of gang violence themselves.

More recently, ICE has made headlines for enabling the separation of parents from their children, having migrants die in detention, and generally traumatizing immigrant communities. Likely emboldened by Trump’s vocal support, ICE’s enforcement is escalating. Since Trump took office, arrests made by ICE have increased by 40%. Sometimes, these arrests can render routine interactions like traffic stops a matter of life and death, as migrants are sent back to their countries of origin despite proven threats to their lives.

Now, some activists are calling for an end to the agency altogether. Here are five reasons why.

1. ICE relies on racial profiling to do its job.

Critiques of ICE are as old as the agency itself. As Nathan Yaffe, an organizer with the New Sanctuary Coalition tells Teen Vogue, “ICE was created after 9/11, and its very existence reflects national security paranoia that presumptively criminalizes all immigrants.”

“ICE can racially profile with impunity: courts routinely dismiss constitutional challenges to caging and deporting immigrants who were arrested as a result of racial profiling. The message to ICE is clear: there’s no consequence for completely disregarding fundamental rights for people of color and non-citizens,” he adds. ICE did not respond immediately to a request for comment on the matter.

2. ICE separates families.

As Julia Salazar, Democratic candidate for State Senate in New York, tells Teen Vogue, “ICE has a bitter legacy of tearing families apart. It punishes people for seeking sanctuary and a better life for their children.” Jennicet Gutiérrez, community organizer at Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement adds: “I think we need to challenge ourselves and think about abolition. We cannot allow these injustices, human rights violations, separation of families, deaths at the border and in detention to go on.

“The agency is saying that they can improve the conditions in their facilities and do better, but so far there are estimates that at least eight people have recently died in ICE custody — to me, that’s a lot of people who should not have been in those places to begin with,” she continues.

3. ICE targets the most vulnerable members of society.

The mere existence of ICE as an institution can be weaponized against undocumented immigrants. For instance, Aaron Schlossberg, a Manhattan lawyer, made headlines in May when he threatened restaurant workers with a call to ICE. As Brendan Davis, legal services coordinator at South Bronx United, tells Teen Vogue: “At the heart of our growing call for the abolition of ICE is the idea that these institutional tools of violence transcend political persuasions. ICE, while certainly emboldened under this administration, was not conceived in January 2017. At its very core, ICE represents the latest incarnation of state authority being mobilized against the most vulnerable members of our society.”

But ICE does not simply seed fear in immigrant communities through threats like Schlossberg’s. Because the Department of Homeland Security, ICE’s parent agency, seeks a 100% deportation rate of “removable aliens”, as they stated back in a 2003 memo, activists argue ICE has gained a reputation for separating sick children and their families, pushing survivors of domestic violence into the shadows, and allegedly punishing activists who speak up against its abuses. As Nathan Yaffe tells Teen Vogue, “U.S. immigration law has always been racist, but ICE’s existence exponentially expands enforcement powers and erodes basic constitutional protections.”