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House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., attacked the Trump administration’s immigration efforts on Wednesday, which he claimed were opposed by Americans.
Jeffries’ comments came during his near-daily government shutdown press conference in response to a reporter asking an unrelated question about whether Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) needed scaling back.
“We’ve all been very outspoken as it relates to the out-of-control behavior unleashed on law-abiding immigrant communities by masked agents hiding their identity and far too often violating the rule of law, often directed at people who are American citizens,” the top House Democrat answered.
“It’s all unacceptable, and it’s one of the reasons why the American people have turned on Donald Trump and Republicans with respect to their extreme immigration policies,” he said.
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He then demanded the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) be held “accountable for the overreach and the extremism that they’re being subjected to in terms of what the American people are experiencing.”
“And yet we’re seeing none of that accountability coming from Republicans,” Jeffries continued. “That’s unfortunate, but Democrats will continue to make the case to the American people that this is all abnormal. So much of it is unlawful, and it’s got to stop.”
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White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital in response, “ICE officers are facing a 1,000% increase in assaults because of unhinged rhetoric from activists and Democrat politicians smearing heroic ICE officers. Anyone who assaults or otherwise harms law enforcement officers will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Attacks on ICE have increased since Trump took office. A woman from North Texas was arrested this week in connection with a violent attack on an Alvarado ICE facility, according to CBS News.
FBI Director Kash Patel previously called the incident a “planned and coordinated terrorist attack.”
Democrats have spent much of Trump’s first year back in office criticizing the actions of ICE, in particular, homing in on accounts of American citizens being improperly detained by federal authorities.
The majority of Republicans have pushed back, arguing ICE has largely done the necessary work of cracking down on illegal immigration.
Jeffries’ comments come after Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, said the panel would be launching an ICE “tracker” to keep tabs on “incidents” the agency is involved in.
But House Committee on Administration Chair Bryan Steil, R-Wis., whose panel would have jurisdiction over materials used by Congress, ruled that out.
“The House of Representatives absolutely will not maintain a website that tracks or doxes ICE agents,” Steil said in a statement.
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