GOP senators are going on offense in supporting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while slamming calls on the left to abolish the agency.
More than 30 Republican senators this week submitted a resolution, spearheaded by GOP Sen. John Kennedy (La.), expressing support for ICE and knocking a push by some progressives who want to dismantle the agency.
Kennedy said calls to abolish ICE were “unthinkable.”
“I am deeply troubled by the Democrats’ reckless calls to abolish ICE. Eliminating ICE shows a blatant disregard for the welfare of the American people and our nation’s immigration laws,” he said.
“Calls to abolish ICE not only disregard our immigration laws and give implicit license to those who want to enter our country illegally, they also smear the heroic sacrifices of ICE agents and put people at risk, especially in border states like Texas,” added Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
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The resolution in support of the agency comes as the push to nix ICE has gained steam among the party’s resurgent liberal base in response President Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policies, which led to the separation of thousands of immigrant families along the U.S.-Mexico border.
A group of liberal House Democrats on Thursday introduced legislation to abolish ICE and shift the bureau’s responsibilities to other federal agencies.
The Senate resolution offers support for ICE officials, members of the military and law enforcement. It would also formally denounce calls to abolish ICE.
Senators, in the resolution, call the progressive rhetoric “an insult to the heroic law enforcement officers of ICE” that would allow “countless illegal aliens who could pose a threat to public safety” including those that “pose a terrorist threat”and illegal drugs to enter the the United States.
“Abolishing ICE would allow dangerous criminal aliens, including violent and ruthless members of the MS-13 gang, to remain in communities in the United States,” the resolution adds.
In addition to Kennedy and Cruz, GOP Sens. Tom Cotton (Ark.), David Perdue (Ga.), Chuck Grassley (Iowa), John Cornyn (Texas), Mike Rounds(S.D.), Bill Cassidy (La.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (Miss.), Jim Inhofe (Okla.), Roy Blunt (Mo.), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Steve Daines (Mont.), Dean Heller (Nev.), Mike Lee (Utah) and Ron Johnson (Wis.), John Boozman (Ark.), John Barrasso (Wyo.), Joni Ernst (Iowa), James Lankford (Okla.), Mike Crapo (Idaho), John Thune (S.D.), Pat Roberts (Kansas), Deb Fischer (Neb.), Orrin Hatch (Utah), Jim Risch (Idaho), Roger Wicker (Miss.), Susan Collins (Maine), Tim Scott (S.C.), Johnny Isakson (Ga.) and Shelly Moore Capito (W.Va.) are supporting the resolution.
Updated: 5:47 p.m.