DHS Leaker Attacks ICE Whistleblower Praised by Trump Campaign, then-Senator Jeff Sessions

A DHS official used The Daily Beast to lob a personal attack at ICE Officer Chris Crane, the head of the ICE Council who was praised by the Trump campaign and then-Senator Jeff Sessions as an American hero for his courage in standing up to the Obama Administration. The DHS leaker implied to the media that Officer Crane was dishonest and “out of touch” with the ICE officers Crane represents and defends against government bureaucrats.

The unnamed DHS leaker told The Daily Beast:

“The ICE workforce, which Chris Crane claims to support, would be far better served if he focused his efforts on supporting ICE’s expanded enforcement priorities, instead of undermining them with false personal attacks,” said a DHS official. “Mr. Crane’s comments are strikingly out of touch with the impressive gains made in the enforcement of immigration law under the Trump administration.”

ICE Officer Crane was a favorite of Donald Trump during Trump’s presidential campaign and of then-Senator Jeff Sessions. The then-senator called Crane an “American hero.” As Breitbart News reported:

Crane is an ICE officer of 13 years, he is a former U.S. Marine, a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and a lifetime member of the American Legion. When President Obama enacted his first executive amnesty in 2012, Crane and nine of his fellow immigration officers sued the President to try to stop the lawless amnesty. Jeff Sessions has described Crane as an “American hero” for his whistle blowing on the immigration corruption.

Breitbart also covered the Trump campaign’s defense of ICE Officer Crane:

“This courageous ICE officer—a man that Sen. Jeff Sessions has called ‘an American hero’… has served his country in so many different capacities: in the Marine’s uniform, as an ICE officer, [and] as a representative for all of America’s ICE officers,” said Donald Trump’s Senior Policy Adviser Stephen Miller on Breitbart News Sunday.

….Miller, who worked for Sen. Sessions as Rubio sought to push the Gang of Eight amnesty bill through the Senate, explained that: “Chris Crane was a central figure in stopping the Gang of Eight immigration bill from becoming law. He did that in his capacity as the ICE Council President for America’s nearly 6,000 ICE officers and personnel. What that means is that the 6,000 ICE officers and personnel cast a ballot to pick one from among their own ranks to represent them nation-wide… He [Crane] was a central figure in exposing the Gang of Eight bill and stopping it.”

Miller said:

….I want to explain just a little bit more about why Chris Crane is such an exceptional person. Consider the situation he finds himself in: he represents America’s ICE officers, who are in a political environment in this Homeland Security Department under Obama where they are ordered every day to violate their oath; where they face unceasing pressure from the political chain of command to release criminal aliens and violent people back on the streets and have nothing they can do… And Chris Crane in 2012 spoke out, when precious few did, about President Obama’s first executive amnesty. And he and nine other ICE officers courageously filed a lawsuit to stop President Obama’s 2012 executive amnesty. Think about the courage that takes about how it affects your future career, in terms of how it affects possible political reprisal. Again, Chris Crane has proven over and over that he is a man of courage and honor and decency….

Brandon Darby is managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Stephen K. Bannon. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.