Acting ICE Director Lashes Out at Buttigieg for 'Vilifying' the Department
Acting ICE Director Mark Morgan slammed 2020 Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday for “vilifying” the department at a campaign event.
Morgan appeared on “Fox & Friends” saying that Buttigieg’s criticisms were “misinformed” and “inappropriate,” according to Fox News.
At a meet-and-greet on Monday in Fresno, California, Buttigieg said, “When we talk about ICE, whether it’s in its current form or some other form, when our immigration authorities are given an inhumane, and in my view, in many ways, illegal set of policies to carry out, the results are going to be horrifying.”
“It’s unbelievable,” Morgan said. “The mayor is misinformed and his rhetoric is absolutely inappropriate.”
Morgan went on to outline statistics from ICE, saying that the agency has made 34,000 criminal arrests in 2018 with capturing more than 5,000 gang members and thousands of child traffickers.
“I would love to sit down with this mayor and have him explain to me which part [of those statistics are] illegal or inhumane,” Morgan told the hosts of “Fox & Friends.”
“So he’s going to vilify the law enforcement agency that is statuary-mandated to carry out the laws that Congress enacted, but because he doesn’t like the laws, he’s going to attack ICE? He’s vilifying the wrong agency,” Morgan said. “If he doesn’t like the laws, go to Congress, change the laws and we will enforce those laws.”
Morgan added that because ICE agents are in the line of duty every day, Buttigieg’s rhetoric comes as a disservice and even “demoralizes” them. “The dedicated men and women of border patrol, all of CPB, HHS, ICE — they’re working every day, sacrificing so much to safeguard, protect this country, and when you hear stuff like that, it demoralizes them,” he said.
Other presidential hopefuls such as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have joined the ranks of Buttigieg in slamming ICE, including calling for its abolishment.
Later on Wednesday, President Trump addressed the illegal immigration problem and slammed “Mexico & the Democrats” for their “refusing to budge on immigration reform.”
Immigration discussions at the White House with representatives of Mexico have ended for the day. Progress is being made, but not nearly enough! Border arrests for May are at 133,000 because of Mexico & the Democrats in Congress refusing to budge on immigration reform. Further…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2019
….talks with Mexico will resume tomorrow with the understanding that, if no agreement is reached, Tariffs at the 5% level will begin on Monday, with monthly increases as per schedule. The higher the Tariffs go, the higher the number of companies that will move back to the USA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 5, 2019
He doubled down on his tariff threat against Mexican goods, tweeting that if a deal with Mexico isn’t made, “Tariffs at the 5% level will begin on Monday, with monthly increases as per schedule.”
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