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Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., appeared to compare federal authorities enforcing immigration law to British forces that terrorized the 13 colonies.
Her remarks Wednesday came during a debate on a budget resolution as both sides of the political aisle seek to end the partial Department of Homeland Security (DHS) shutdown on their own terms.
Slotkin, a former CIA analyst, spoke as Democrats launched a new effort to reopen DHS, which has been partially shut down for 67 days. During her remarks, she noted the deaths of American citizens killed during interactions with federal agents during violent clashes in Minneapolis earlier this year.
“The behavior of our federal forces in our streets strikes at the heart of who we are as Americans,” she said. “I’m not going to go and list through everything ICE is doing, but I want you to think about what would happen if these things happened to you.”
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“Imagine someone in a mask breaking your car window and pulling you and your 2-year-old daughter out of that car,” she added, citing examples in which ICE agents allegedly used force to detain undocumented immigrants or agitators impeding law enforcement operations.
“Imagine being shot with rubber bullets at a protest in America. Masked men detaining your 5-year-old coming home from preschool; being pepper-sprayed while praying aloud.”
Slotkin and many Democrats have criticized ICE for pursuing illegal immigrants with criminal records and for the use of force employed by agents during arrests. Some have, at times, labeled the agency a “terrorist organization” or accused it of “terrorizing” communities in response to enforcement actions and family separations.
Slotkin said many Americans understand that ICE’s actions run contrary to the founding of the U.S.
“The rebellion that our American forefathers launched not too far north of here was because of an oppressive government, because of an oppressive regime that was using brutal tactics in the streets and in people’s homes,” she said of the Revolutionary War.
“So, that’s why we’re here today: to have very commonsense reforms on federal law enforcement because of what we all saw with our own eyes.”
Federal agents should be required to be unmasked, identify themselves and present a judicial warrant when seeking to enter someone’s home, she said.
“We are here today because the other side of the aisle is refusing to have even a basic conversation on those reforms and wants to fully fund ICE with no changes,” she said.
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