McConnell: I will continue to stand with the brave men and women of ICE

Sen. Mitch McConnell | Opinion contributor

Show Caption Hide Caption Mitch McConnell visits Louisville ICE office to discuss protests McConnell on ICE, protesters and more

The United States has become the greatest nation the world has ever known because of those who dedicate themselves to defending it. Our men and women in uniform and our law enforcement officers put their own safety on the line to protect our country, our neighborhoods and our families from those who would do us harm. It’s incumbent upon each one of us to thank these brave individuals who sacrifice on our behalf and keep us safe.



I recently had the privilege to do that when I visited the Louisville office of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). This is a federal agency that was created following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It’s responsible for several key aspects of homeland security: enforcing our immigration laws, combating terrorism, and preventing people and goods from moving illegally throughout our country.

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And its record on these vital missions is staggering. In a single year, ICE recorded more than 105,000 arrests of aliens with known criminal convictions on their records: nearly 4,600 convictions for robbery, more than 3,700 for sexual assault, and more than 1,500 for homicide. We’re talking about the men and women in law enforcement who confront this danger every day in order to keep their fellow citizens safe. This is hardly a controversial mission. It’s essential. We are fortunate these agents are willing to serve, and our nation is better for it.



But recently, they’ve been protested by some extremely vocal far-left special interest groups.



Some of these groups call themselves socialists, which is an idea I thought we had sent to the ash heap of history. Socialism controls every personal, economic, and political decision in your life, destroying any incentive to work hard and succeed. It almost defies belief, but they’re explicitly saying that our nation would be better off with no borders and no immigration laws of any kind. These individuals are slandering ICE agents. They’re calling the agency, “an unaccountable strike force executing a campaign of ethnic cleansing,” and even, “a genuine threat to democracy.”



That’s right. According to these far-left groups, the “threat to democracy” is not the violent criminals who are illegally present in our country – but rather the brave law enforcement officers who volunteer to take them on. Well, fringe political movements are nothing new. You can find a few Americans who will argue almost any side of any issue. What is new, what does get my attention, is when prominent, leading Democratic politicians – including a number of my Senate colleagues – adopt some of these extremists’ views wholesale and let the far-left talking points form the basis for their own policy positions.

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One of my Senate colleagues from New York said recently that, if Democrats regain the House and Senate in the upcoming election, the first thing they should do is, “Get rid of ICE.” Elizabeth Warren pointed to “replacing ICE” as the first priority of a top-to-bottom rebuild of America’s immigration system. The mayor of New York City calls the agency, “No longer acceptable.” And a member of the House likened the agency to: “The Gestapo of the United States.”



I’m really not sure where to begin in responding to this foaming hysteria. It is one thing for a few protestors and socialist hecklers who want open borders and the elimination of all immigration laws to adopt a slogan as silly and ill-considered as “Abolish ICE.” But it is something else entirely when United States senators are so eager to please these left-wing extremists that they join in denigrating the men and women of U.S. law enforcement.



I never thought I would have to defend capitalism in America. Our nation has enjoyed unprecedented prosperity and become the leader of the free world as a result of our commitment to the free market. The American Dream is based on the promise of individual freedom and opportunity, not the top-down, government controlled system proposed by socialists. Socialism is a complete rejection of our nation’s core values and the ideas which have lifted billions of people out of poverty around the world.

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But this is the moment we’re in. Leading Democrats taking cues from the open-borders socialist crowd and proposing to eliminate the very agency that enforces federal immigration laws within the interior of our nation. Talk about a political stunt. The American people want nothing to do with these dangerous antics.



The men and women of Kentucky certainly don’t. So my fellow Republicans and I will continue to proudly stand with ICE, stand with the rule of law, and stand with all the American families who would rather have fewer drugs and less crime in the communities where they’re raising their children.



Sen. Mitch McConnell, the senior senator from Kentucky, is the Senate majority leader.