NJ Libertarians Call To ‘Abolish ICE,’ Remove Bondi Over Epstein Files

“Abolish ICE. Remove Bondi.” These are two of the demands recently made by the New Jersey Libertarian Party as President Donald Trump’s second term enters its second year.

On Thursday, Libertarian Party leaders in New Jersey released a statement that calls for the “immediate disempowerment” of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi after the latest controversy over the infamous Epstein Files.

Earlier this week, Bondi announced that the Justice Department has released “all” of the files related to the late, convicted sex offender – fulfilling its obligations under the Epstein Transparency Act.

Democratic lawmakers have accused Bondi of overseeing a Justice Department cover-up and “purposefully muddying the waters” with the latest redaction-filled data dump. Bondi has also seen criticism from some Republican lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who co-wrote the law requiring the release of the Epstein Files.

“I don’t think Pam Bondi has confidence in Pam Bondi,” he quipped after a contentious House Judiciary Committee hearing last week.

Bondi has also faced stiff criticism from third-party sources, including the New Jersey Libertarian Party (NJLP), which recently voted 9-1 (with one abstention) to call for her “disempowerment” as attorney general.

According to the NJLP, ever since Trump signed off on the “Epstein Files Transparency Act” last November, the attorney general has failed to follow through on her responsibilities.

“Since its passage, [Attorney General] Bondi has failed to meet the timeline, and those documents that were released were redacted to obscene levels,” their statement charged.

NJLP leaders said the House hearing on Feb. 11 is the latest example of why Bondi needs to go:

“During the hearing she referred to Rep. Jamie Raskin as a ‘washed up loser lawyer,’ called Rep. Thomas Massie (one of the co-authors of the bill) ‘a failed politician,’ and accused Rep. Becca Balint, a Jewish American who lost family during the Holocaust of being antisemitic. She either deflected or outright refused to answer most questions pertaining to her failings, refused to apologize to those victims attending the event for her gross mismanagement, and most egregiously tried to justify her actions by saying that, ‘The DOW is over 50k right now [...].’ What she didn’t do was show any repentance or willingness to perform her job as the attorney general in seeking justice for the many victims of Jeffery Epstein, Ghislain Maxwell and their many co-conspirators.”

“It is an affront to justice and the principles of these United States for such an incompetent, immoral and corrupt figure to be the head of the Justice Department,” the NJLP alleged. “So long as she remains in power there is no hope that the Justice Department will do its job and bring these aggressors to justice.”

The Libertarian Party of North Carolina joined their Garden State peers as co-signers to the statement on Bondi. Read it here.

Meanwhile, Trump has defended Bondi, claiming that she did a “fantastic” job at the House hearing.

“Nobody cared about Epstein when he was alive, they only cared about him when they thought he could create political harm to a very popular president who has brought our country back from the brink of extinction,” Trump wrote last week.

NJ LIBERTARIANS: ‘ABOLISH ICE’

The NJLP has also taken a strong stance on the ongoing federal immigration crackdown, arguing to “abolish ICE” in a January op-ed.

“Nothing should arouse the ire of a libertarian more than having federal agents detaining people on the streets without probable cause,” the NJLP asserted.

“ICE agents have been canvassing the streets of New Jersey performing warrantless raids on homes and businesses,” the op-ed continues. “They have been sweeping up citizens, documented immigrants, and undocumented immigrants. We are witnessing the transformation of our communities into zones where ‘show me your papers’ is no longer a dystopian trope, but a daily requirement.”

The NJLP pointed to several ICE-related incidents that took place that month, including arrests in Morristown, Warren Township and Red Bank.

“In the first 9 months of 2025 ICE has arrested 5,138 people in New Jersey,” the NJLP reported. “This is a 132 percent increase from the same period in 2024. Only 5 percent of those arrested have a conviction for a violent crime, 73% have no convictions at all.

“The good news is that people are waking up and protesting across the country,” the NJLP continued. “Dozens of protests were held [in January] throughout New Jersey, including in Morristown, Roxbury, Elizabeth, Clifton, Bernardsville, Montclair, Maplewood, Jersey City, Bloomfield, Princeton, Trenton, West Orange, Verona, Newark and many other towns.”

Meanwhile, state laws have been proposed that would severely limit ICE’s authority to use state and local law enforcement resources. Read More: NJ Lawmakers Look To Ban ICE Agents From Public Employment In New Bill Trio

Garden State Libertarians aren’t the only ones calling to abolish ICE, party leaders say. A recent poll found that 46 percent of Americans support “abolishing” ICE – with 43 percent opposed.

Trump has continued to claim the immigration crackdown taking place under his second term is paying dividends, however.

A White House statement issued on Jan. 20, one year after Trump was inaugurated, claimed that the president has “put America First with urgency” and “restored U.S. control over immigration flows for the first time in a generation.”

Some of the claims from the White House about Trump's first 365 days included:

• "Removed more than 2.6 million illegal aliens from the United States through deportations and voluntary self-departures"
• "Deported more than 400,000 illegal aliens charged with or convicted of crimes"
• "Induced two million self-deportations by ending Biden-era release incentives and restoring credible consequences"

Advocates have claimed that many of the figures quoted by Trump and the White House are inaccurate, misleading or false.

Send local news tips and correction requests to eric.kiefer@patch.com. Learn more about advertising on Patch here. Find out how to post announcements or events to your local Patch site.