Debbie Young
Does Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the political activist, community organizer, and Democratic nominee from New York’s 14th congressional district, understand that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is not responsible for controlling our borders? Access to our borders is managed by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency (CBP), which is the agency responsible for separating families at the border. The responsibility of ICE is to enforce immigration laws within the U.S.
The new narrative from the left is that ICE is “a ‘gestapo’ facilitating the family separation policy at the border,” Tammy Bruce writes in the Washington Times. What ICE actually does, she explains, is to take on murderous MS-13 gangs. ICE also engages in anti-smuggling efforts, money laundering investigations, and arresting criminal illegal aliens.
With marches and rallies organized around the absurd “Abolish ICE” demand, many might think this is what all Democrats now believe. But that presumption would be wrong.
How disconnected from their own base is the Democratic Party? We have one clue, courtesy of a new Harris/Harvard poll conducted by pollster Mark Penn, the former Bill Clinton aide. He asked about the “Abolish ICE” proposal and whether the agency should be disbanded. Sixty-nine percent of registered voters said no, including 59 percent of Democrats and 73 percent of independents.
Amazing to see that six out of 10 Democrats disagree with the national effort by Democrats who appear to be leading the party.
It’s not just Ocasio-Cortez who is calling for the abolition of ICE. Piling on are Democrat national figures, who are now parroting Ocasio-Cortez:
- Elizabeth Warren, Massachusetts senator
- Cynthia Nixon, New York gubernatorial candidate
- Kirsten Gillibrand, New York senator
Much of the rhetoric about the Democrats is that they’re disconnected from the average American. That appears to be true, but the more surprising revelation is that they’re as out of touch with their own base.
Read more here.
