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fox news star Laura Ingraham Declared Thursday night that it is “borderline illegal” for Democratic lawmakers to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents “thugs,” saying such comments are “beyond irresponsible” and “there must be accountability here.”
During a Thursday night interview with Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem and ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheehan, Ingraham brought up comments made on the House floor earlier this week by Representative Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-IL) about ICE and Customs and Border Protection agents.
“Since taking office, Trump has declared war on our community,” Garcia said. “Masked ICE and CBP thugs – and I call them thugs because they don’t identify themselves – they have detained parents going to work. They have kidnapped American citizens. They have tear gassed people.”
Garcia has used similar language in recent months criticizing mass deportation efforts by the Trump administration. After the President launched “Operation Midway Blitz” in Chicago last September, Garcia called it “declared war on an American city” and said “[m]We do not become safe when thugs kidnap parents, children and workers.
The following month, Border Patrol agents responded to Detention of Chicago Alderman’s staff membersgarcia Took the help of social media to announce That “we will keep each other safe and make sure these masked thugs are held accountable.”
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Before Garcia’s comments aired Thursday night, Ingraham insisted that when the American public elected Trump they “voted for mass deportation.” “But they’re trying to change that dynamic now, and it’s all for the benefit of the media and the Democrats. The Democrats are doing everything they can to portray ICE as the villain,” he said.
Turning to Noem after playing Garcia’s clip, the Fox News host and anti-immigration hawk suggested the Illinois congressman could potentially face prison for her comments on Capitol Hill.
“Madam Secretary, I believe these comments are truly beyond irresponsible,” Ingraham said angrily. “They’re illegal because they’re effectively endangering the lives of ICE agents on the streets. Aren’t they? They have targets on their backs because of those comments.”
Noem unsurprisingly agreed with the conservative host, saying that Garcia’s comments were “blatant lies” and that “to portray ICE officers in this way is really unprecedented in this country.” He described the comments as “history-making” before claiming that ICE agents are “facing an 8000 percent increase in violence against them.” (Referring to the DHS Secretary Reported increase in death threats To ICE, which his department has repeatedly cited.)
After the head of DHS complained that Democratic lawmakers were “encouraging” violence against ICE and CBP officers with their rhetoric and even “laying hands on law enforcement officers,” Ingraham called for action.
“I think there needs to be accountability here. If there isn’t accountability, this will continue to happen and people will lose lives. We’ve already had incidents where agents were shot,” the Fox host concluded.
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Meanwhile, recent data shows that the majority of immigrants who are arrested in high-profile city crackdowns – particularly in Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. – no criminal record,
For example, in the Chicago area, two-thirds of those caught in a multi-week ICE operation were never charged with a crime. 84 percent of immigrants arrested during the Washington crackdown had no criminal charges on their records. moreover, It has been reported Hundreds of US citizens have been held by immigration agents – some of whom have been kicked, assaulted and detained for days.
Amid the Trump administration’s aggressive mass deportation campaign, which has seen masked ICE agents flood the streets of major cities, polls have shown that the American public has grown dissatisfied with immigration enforcement.
Daily Mail/JL Partners Poll Released late last month A separate YouGov poll found that ICE’s approval rating is only 34 percent showed A solid majority of Americans disapprove of the immigration enforcement agency.