Trump Smacks Down ‘Abolish ICE’ Outcry From Gillibrand, de Blasio: ‘It Will Never Happen’
In a tweet targeting recent calls from the Democratic Party to abolish ICE entirely, President Trump was quick to offer his support to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and to make it clear abolishment was not on the table according to Fox News.
Defending the work that they did and indicating that they provided a valuable and necessary service in protecting the American people from the “worst criminal elements,” President Trump laid out a number of tweets indicating that there was absolutely no way that abolishment of ICE would take place under his administration.
To the great and brave men and women of ICE, do not worry or lose your spirit. You are doing a fantastic job of keeping us safe by eradicating the worst criminal elements. So brave! The radical left Dems want you out. Next it will be all police. Zero chance, It will never happen!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 30, 2018
The recent calls for a total abolition of ICE have come from Democratic faithful such as Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, hot on the heels of an initial suggestion put forward by underdog political newcomer Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Ocasio-Cortez defeated a 10-term incumbent when she toppled lifelong Democrat Joe Crowley in a contest over New York City’s 14th congressional district earlier this week, and was quick to demand change from the party leadership, calling for articles of impeachment to be drawn up against President Trump as well as pushing to abolish ICE, the Inquisitr reports.
“I believe that [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] has become a deportation force … and that’s why I believe you should get rid of it, start over, reimagine it and build something that actually works,” Gillibrand told CNN interviewers on Thursday evening. “We should abolish ICE,” de Blasio commented Friday morning while being hosted by WNYC radio.
Democratic Senator Kamala Harris has already made it clear that she favors “starting from scratch” on the matter of immigration reform, while Rep. Mark Pocan — a Democrat from Wisconsin – announced this past Monday that he would be bringing a bill to the floor to formally abolish the agency.
Once relegated to a fringe philosophy on the far-left of the Democratic Party base, suggestions to outright dismantle ICE entirely and to immediately press for the impeachment of President Donald Trump have started to enter the mainstream leftist lexicon as American political polarization deepens. Support for the notion of open borders on the left is also becoming more apparent according to The Guardian, though incumbent Democratic politicians and press are quick to dismiss this scenario, as The Washington Post suggests.
For his part, President Trump unsurprisingly rejected any suggestion that he would entertain either notion.
The Democrats are making a strong push to abolish ICE, one of the smartest, toughest and most spirited law enforcement groups of men and women that I have ever seen. I have watched ICE liberate towns from the grasp of MS-13 & clean out the toughest of situations. They are great!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 30, 2018
Republican politicians and attendant strategists seem to be welcoming this latest shift in the Democratic party paradigm, sensing that it may cause further internal fracture as well as form as a winning wedge for them with American voters, particularly those voters living outside of strong blue enclaves such as California and New York. Senator Tom Cotton, a well-known Republican representing Arkansas, encouraged his Democrat counterparts to continue with this narrative.
“Based on the last week, Democrats apparently want to campaign on open borders, mass migration, & abolishing ICE,” Sen. Cotton tweeted earlier this week. “Give them points for honesty. Let’s vote.”
