OPINION:
When it comes to illegal immigration, one essential truth must never be forgotten: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are in Minneapolis and so many other blue state jurisdictions today because of the damage caused by the disastrous open border policies of the last administration.
As a result of Team Biden’s catastrophic decisions over the course of one of the worst four-year periods in American history, President Trump was reelected to make America safe again, and that’s exactly what he is doing.
Mr. Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have promised the American people they will stop the invasion, secure the border, arrest criminals and deport those who have entered the country illegally. Radical leftists have lost their minds over these commonsense policies and the fact that heroic ICE agents are simply being allowed to do their jobs again.
Make no mistake: A woman was recently fatally shot by an ICE agent she was attempting to run over in her SUV during an enforcement operation in Minnesota because of the rhetoric of unhinged Democratic politicians and crazed left-wing activists who don’t care about the law or public safety. The Justice Department and Congress must continue following the money to find out exactly who is funding and organizing these professional anti-ICE protests and hold people accountable.
The chief objective for Democrats these days seems to be to appear as deranged as possible so the woke mob can’t accuse them of being soft on the president. Irresponsible officeholders on the left at all levels of government are emboldening people to move against innocent ICE agents who are following the laws on the books.
Although it’s tragic that a person’s life has been lost, what must be remembered is that protesters of ICE are in the streets because people in positions of power are actively encouraging them to fight. If this were still the Democratic Party of John F. Kennedy or Bill Clinton, federal immigration officials would be free to do their jobs in a noncontroversial manner without any violent resistance, and life would go on.
The inflammatory rhetoric coming from Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is cowardly and completely lacking in leadership. Hours after the defensive ICE shooting was no time to raise the temperature and spew Trump-hating talking points; it was a time to cool things down, instruct people to go home and let ICE enforce the law, period.
The recent statement from the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association says it all: “Irresponsible, reckless rhetoric from political leaders attacking law enforcement has real and dangerous consequences for officers on the street. When officers are vilified, demonized, or used as political props, it fuels hostility, emboldens bad actors, and puts lives directly at risk.”
Before more lives are lost, Democrats, in addition to courageous Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, must step up and condemn the awful rhetoric emanating from the left.
The Democrats’ insane reaction to Mr. Trump’s successful illegal immigration crackdown is not only getting people killed but is also revealing. Why would a party make the decision to look so lawless, reckless and pathetic and so opposed to common sense in the eyes of tens of millions of Americans?
Well, there is a good reason. The radical left is digging in with this dangerous position for the same reason it opposes ultra-popular voter ID laws and the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act: It must protect, as a matter of political survival, its yearslong investment allowing millions of illegals to enter America unimpeded.
It’s an arrangement conceived in hell. Illegal immigrants are told that if Democrats are in power, the welfare fraud gravy train will keep chugging, the drunken spending will continue, the social safety net will be at their disposal from cradle to grave, and the broken status quo will prevail eternally.
If ICE is successful in removing these illegals, then it would make it that much more difficult for a party out of innovative policies and ideas to win an election. It would also make it difficult for the party to count illegals in the census or use them to rig state congressional maps to favor Democrats.
Mr. Trump and Ms. Noem are right to stay focused, plow forward and support legality in America. We are a nation of laws, and the position of the Democratic Party on the issue of illegal immigration is, “We don’t care.” Never before have we seen federal law enforcement officers in our country systematically targeted, threatened and attacked for enforcing the law and doing their job to keep Americans safe.
Vice President J.D. Vance was exactly right last week when he said: “If the media wants to tell the truth, they ought to tell the truth that a group of left-wing radicals have been working tirelessly, sometimes using domestic terror techniques, to try to make it impossible for the President of the United States to do what the American people elected him to do, which is enforce our immigration laws.”
At the end of the day, Mr. Trump understands that America must have laws and a strong border or we will no longer have a country, and he is exactly right. We should thank God every day that he won the election in 2024 because Kamala Harris believes the exact opposite.
• David N. Bossie is the president of Citizens United. He served as a senior adviser to the Trump 2024 and 2020 campaigns. He served as deputy campaign manager for Donald J. Trump for President in 2016 and deputy executive director for the Trump transition team.
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