Monday on CNN’s “Wolf,” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) said while President Donald Trump continues “bashing immigrants” Democrats won 43 special elections.
On calls to abolish ICE, Lieu said, “We just put in a new ICE director. I think he should be given some opportunity to try to change the culture of ICE then we need to change the policies of ICE, so they don’t terrorize communities. If none of that happens, then I would support abolishing ICE and replacing it with an agency that is more consistent with America’s values.”
On Trump using Democrats push to abolish ICE to his political advantage, Lieu added, “I’m not concerned because ICE actually doesn’t deal with borders. That’s customs and border patrol. No one is calling me for elimination of border patrol. What happened to ICE is it was an agency with multiple missions including tackling child pornography, sex trafficking, things people can support. But part of the mission went beyond what they were supposed to do, and they started terrorizing communities. That’s the part Democrats are concerned about. And the president, since his inauguration, has been bashing immigrants this entire time. At the same time, Democrats won 43 special elections, flipped Alabama, flipped a seat in western Pennsylvania. So we’re happy to talk about immigration as well as the economy and jobs. Clearly, people are not experiencing the benefits of this economy, especially middle-class families.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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