Kamala Harris, 2020 Democratic Presidential hopeful and Senator from California, referred to our border patrol agents as the KKK. Yes, this sitting U.S. Senator made the comparison that work done by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, is similar to the hateful actions of the Ku Klux Klan organization from our Nation’s post-slavery history.
ICE’s mission is to ‘promote homeland security and public safety through the criminal and civil enforcement of federal laws governing border control, customs, trade and immigration.’ Senator Harris’ comments during a Capitol Hill hearing are not only unrepresentative of the job these agents do each and everyday to keep our borders safe, but she spreads an incredibly false narrative to citizens across the country of what actually happens at the border.
Dr. Jason Piccolo, a former Supervisor with the Department of Homeland Security had this to say of Kamala Harris’ comments in his Op-Ed in the Washington Examiner: “…The employees I supervised and worked alongside came from every walk of life, every race, and every religion and did their jobs based on their dedication to enforcing our nation’s laws, enacted by Congress and signed by both Democratic and Republican presidents. Many ICE agents, like myself, first deployed in support of our military efforts abroad, putting their lives on the line. Now they come home to hate-filled rhetoric by our country’s lawmakers under the Abolish ICE movement and are being referred to as having parallels to the KKK.”
Harris is the leader of the “Abolish ICE” movement, which she will surely push onto her policy platform for her 2020 run. Is this the type of leader we want on a Presidential ballot to represent Americans across the country? This hateful, anti-military rhetoric has no place in the Capitol building, and certainly not the White House.
We believe in legal immigration, strong borders, and keeping our country safe from foreign threats. ICE agents put their lives on the line at the border each and every day to accomplish this task — we can’t let our elected leaders talk this way about some of our Nation’s bravest! Senator Harris is a danger to our national security and a disgrace to our law enforcement.