Editor’s Note: A previous version of the headline incorrectly attributed the statement to the Council as a whole rather than one member. We regret the error.
On Friday’s “CNN News Central,” Minneapolis City Council Member Robin Wonsley responded to a question on what should replace ICE if it is abolished as she wants by stating that “This was used as a wedge issue to divide Americans, thinking that these immigrant — law enforcement agents are going to go out and get the bad guys off the streets. No, they are the bad guys.”
Co-host Sara Sidner asked, “[Y]ou have called for abolishing ICE entirely. But we have seen polling from the American people who have said, look, they did put Donald Trump in office, in part, because they were concerned about immigration, they wanted better immigration enforcement. Immigration consistently polled as the second most important issue behind the economy. So, if you want to abolish ICE, what should replace it, in your mind?”
Wonsley responded, “We have not always had ICE. And, in fact, the billions of dollars that [are] going to ICE right now absolutely [need] to be rerouted towards supporting our communities. Right now, we have working-class families who are struggling to make rent, who have lost their jobs since this administration has taken power. We have residents who’ve lost access to critical social services that have been defunded in the efforts to uphold this violent agency that’s separating families and that’s also doing it indiscriminately. Let’s make it very clear, this has nothing to do about immigration. This was used as a wedge issue to divide Americans, thinking that these immigrant — law enforcement agents are going to go out and get the bad guys off the streets. No, they are the bad guys. And they are targeting residents indiscriminately. It does not matter if you’re an immigrant. It does not matter if you’re a U.S. citizen. You can be shot, killed in a residential area on a random weekday morning, as what took place here. So, I’m really hoping that this incident and the many other incidents that [have] transpired since ICE agents have continued to wage this work of cruelty across various cities, I’m hoping Americans and residents of different cities are seeing that this was a blatant lie sold to the American people to distract us from the fact that they are depriving us of the resources that we need to cover our basic necessities, to make sure that we have a standard quality of life that’s accessible to everyone. That is what they’re trying to distract us away from with this whole illusion of them using immigration as a tool to remove criminals off the streets. They are the criminals. They are the ones murdering civilians. And they should be held responsible, traditionally and nothing less.”
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