ICE is facing mounting pressure from all sides, including now vulnerable Republicans who can’t justify Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deportations to their constituents and a new law allowing Californians to sue.
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This matters because it shows just how deeply unpopular ICE is, and ICE is supposed to function as the private army of the president in his authoritarian takeover of our democracy.
MAGA Republican Said Trump Needed to Admit ICE Was Getting Things Wrong
A West Virginia Republican and hardcore Trump ally criticized ICE.
“Before you know it, you get people that get carried away in their job and whatever it may be, and all of a sudden, then you’re dragging people away that have lived on your street corner for 15 years, and I don’t know that we need to be doing that stuff,” Republican Senator Jim Justice said in an interview with Politico on Tuesday.
Justice is the guy who got elected as Governor of West Virginia in 2016 as a Democrat. In 2017, he switched his affiliation to the Republican Party at a rally alongside Donald Trump. Trump then endorsed him as he ran to fill the seat vacated by Joe Manchin. He’s fully committed.
“To get better, the first thing you got to do is admit you’re doing something wrong,” the Senator who now serves on the Senate Agriculture Committee said. “And in this situation, with all that’s going on and all the stuff, we probably got to step back from it and say, ‘Maybe we’re doing something wrong here or there,’ and then adjust to that.”
As expected, the Republican walked this criticism back a bit on Wednesday, with WBOY reporting that Justice said he supports Trump’s immigration strategy, “full stop,” adding, “Our brave ICE officers are doing an incredible job protecting our communities, and they must continue to focus on criminals who are here illegally and putting Americans in danger.”
But of course, the problem with this backtrack is that it reveals the truth.
The truth is that ICE is not focusing on people who are criminals or people who are “putting Americans in danger.”
Other Republicans Aren’t Happy with ICE
GOP senators in competitive states, such as Kansas Senators Jerry Moran and Roger Marshall, have urged caution and oversight following enforcement operations targeting local industries like meatpacking, according to CNN.
Recently, extremist former Maine Governor and congressional candidate Paul LePage and Texas Rep. Monica De La Cruz publicly criticized specific enforcement cases involving constituents or family members, adding to the growing bipartisan pile of criticism of ICE’s tactics.
The MAGA ally criticism of ICE also comes on the heels of ranching groups complaining about ICE operations costing them millions of dollars. Politico mentioned other Republicans who weren’t happy with ICE’s farm deportations, wishing to clarify that those workers are working “legally”.
It’s almost as if the law should matter to an alleged law enforcement agency. But if Republicans really wanted to protect basic constitutional rights and freedoms, they would use their oversight powers to rein ICE in. Instead, House Republicans are MIA having fled DC to avoid doing their jobs and Senators are busy passing a sports bill.
