Wednesday on Fox News Channel’s “Outnumbered Overtime,” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) said we “need” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in light of the “very disheartening” loss of 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts, who was allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant.

Ernst said, “We introduced Sarah’s Law with with a number of co-sponsors in the 114th Congress. We have reintroduced it again in this Congress. But Still no traction there. And what Sarah’s Law would require ICE to do is detain those illegal immigrants if they have harmed or maimed or killed American citizens. And it would also require then ICE to make sure they are updating the family as to the status of the case. It seems so simple and straightforward and, yet, we haven’t received the traction. The loss of Mollie Tibbetts has hurt many Iowans so very deeply and it captivated the imagination and concerns of an entire United States. And to have it end like this is very, very disheartening.”

She added, “ICE does play a role in that. I am going to give a shoutout to the folks that work for ICE because we need them. If we are planning on safeguarding our American homeland, we need to be able to protect against gang members that are coming in from other countries. We need to be able to protect against human trafficking that happens over our borders every day. We need to stop the gun runners from bringing their goods in from other countries. There are so many things that we need ICE to do. And I can’t imagine all of these other lawmakers from the other side of the aisle that are demanding the abolishment of it.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN