The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, commonly known as ICE, began operations in 2003 as a result of a major reorganization of the federal government in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on America that murdered nearly 3,000 innocent people. In a dangerous world, ICE’s main objective, plain and simple, is to keep the American people safe and secure. With 20,000 courageous employees, ICE’s mission centers on “smart immigration enforcement, preventing terrorism, and combating the illegal movement of people and goods.”
After that horrible September morning almost 17 years ago, I witnessed something truly inspiring. I saw Americans from all walks of life come together and unite as a grieving nation. I watched as our government leaders moved forward together and make important decisions so that such a heinous act would be less likely to happen again.
{mosads}The Senate overwhelmingly passed the Homeland Security Act of 2002, which paved the way to establish ICE, by a margin of 90-9. This consequential measure enjoyed the broad support of conservatives like former North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms and Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, and liberals like California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, and even former New York Sen. Hillary Clinton.
Reasonable people can plainly see that ICE officials are under immense pressure on a multitude of fronts each and every day. They cannot let their guard down for one minute. President Trump thoroughly understands this and has been working with congressional Republicans for months to try to come up with commonsense solutions to reform our immigration system to help ICE do its job of keeping Americans safe. But the Democrats have been nowhere to be found. They do not seem interested in compromise simply because of their juvenile dislike of President Trump.
In fact, the position of the Democrats to date has been “our way or the highway.” Despite overture after overture from President Trump and Republicans on Capitol Hill, the Democrats have chosen not to come to the table to negotiate in a constructive way. Now we know why. It is not just that they cannot stand President Trump. It has now become clear that the Democratic Party no longer cares about border security. In fact, some leading Democrats actually want to abolish ICE.
After Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s victory over liberal swamp creature Joe Crowley in the New York congressional primary on June 26, national Democrats like New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio have gotten behind the “Abolish ICE” movement, thus pulling back the curtain to expose liberals for what they truly want. Cleary they believe that the heroes at ICE are an impediment to their misguided dream of an open borders utopia.
This untenable position that national Democrats are taking on immigration and border security flies in the face of public opinion. In fact, just last week long time Clinton pollster Mark Penn released a study that found a whopping “84 percent of Americans favor turning undocumented immigrants over to federal agents.” But do not expect the flailing Democratic Party to pay attention to startling numbers like this because their unhinged radical base surely is not.
The truth is, it was not so long ago that President Clinton was advocating for the very measures on border security that are now espoused by President Trump. If you are wondering where the Democratic Party of that era is, it is gone and never coming back. Tom Perez, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said as much when he recently described Ocasio-Cortez as the future of the Democratic Party.
During his 1995 State of the Union address, President Clinton said, “That is why our administration has moved aggressively to secure our borders more by hiring a record number of new border guards, by deporting twice as many criminal aliens as ever before, by cracking down on illegal hiring, by barring welfare benefits to illegal aliens.”
If Bill Clinton came to Capitol Hill today and said that to the Democratic caucus in the House, it is my guess he would be run out of town. That being said, it is time to put the “Abolish ICE” movement to the test. When Congress returns next week, Republicans should bring resolutions to the floor that express steadfast support for ICE and the brave men and women who work there to keep Americans safe day in and day out.
David Bossie is the president of Citizens United and a contributor to Fox News. He was deputy campaign manager for Donald Trump and was chief investigator for the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee during the Clinton administration. Follow him on Twitter @David_Bossie.