Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is calling out Democrats for pushing back against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers who are trying to round up criminal aliens and deport them out of the country.
The inflammatory rhetoric from the Left has encouraged several attacks on ICE agents including an attack on officers in Alvarado, Texas on Independence Day by a heavily-armed group.
In an appearance on Fox News, Noem said these targeted attacks against law enforcement officers are a dangerous situation, and the problem is getting worse.
"These Democrat leaders in some of these communities and states are really, really elevating the emotion out there and lying and putting these officers’ lives in jeopardy. So, I'm hopeful that people will remember that they are just upholding the rule of law and remember what our streets were like under the last administration, how dangerous it was and that President (Donald) Trump and these police officers are going after murderers and rapists, people who are trafficking our children. These ICE officers are patriots."
Gary Bauer is chairman of the Campaign for Working Families. He says he doesn't know how this will play out politically.
"It would take a whole lot of people that say they're moderates to start voting for conservative candidates. There's a little bit of a sign of that, but I'm not seeing anything right now that indicates that we're on the way to the kind of landslide elections that Ronald Reagan was able to pull off for two terms."
Ira Mehlman, of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, tells AFN the Democrats need to turn down the rhetoric.
"The rhetoric has reached a point," he warns, "where it is creating a dangerous situation not just for the ICE agents but the community in general."
People have a right to disagree with policy, he adds, but they don't have a right to obstruct law enforcement officers.
