During an interview Sunday with New York AM 970 radio’s “The Cats Roundtable,” Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) commented on the planned illegal immigration raids to be executed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Zeldin ripped into Democrats for siding with illegal aliens, saying they have “vilified” ICE agents to “pander” to the radical left.

“[O]ur great ICE agents, they get vilified by some on the left trying to get political wins out of it,” Zeldin told host John Catsimatidis. “They’ll call our ICE agents names. I remember hearing some of that come out of Albany with [Governor Andrew Cuomo] calling them thugs. Some in Washington [are] calling for them to be defunded.”

He added, “The fact is, ICE prioritizes going after the worst of the worst. We’re talking about people who are murderers, rapists. They engage in gang activities, sex trafficking, drug trafficking. And that’s where the priority has been, that’s where it should remain. And I believe that whether you are Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal, we all as Americans should be coming together to be supporting our great ICE agents so that they have the funding they need. … They shouldn’t have to deal with politicians in Washington trying to vilify them to pander to a radical left for votes when they’re kissing their spouse goodbye in the morning or they’re saying goodbye to their sons, daughters and other family members at harm to themselves. They should know that those around them in government have their backs.”

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