Dem Rep. Ruiz: ‘We Need to Dismantle ICE’

On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Story Is,” Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-CA) said that “we need to dismantle ICE in order to ensure that people’s rights are protected and that people are able to live with human dignity.”

Host Elex Michaelson asked, “So, you just heard Ed there talking about defunding of DHS, potentially abolishing ICE. There’s talk about potentially impeaching Kristi Noem. Where are you on all of that?”

Ruiz answered, “I think that the world is witnessing the brutality and the violence and the disregard to human dignity, as well as our own rights to due process and the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. And individuals need to be held accountable for that. I do believe that there’s failed leadership and a violation of citizens’ rights by Secretary Noem, that she should be impeached, and our leverage to change that brutal behavior is through the funding. So, there needs to be a divestment, and we need to dismantle ICE in order to ensure that people’s rights are protected and that people are able to live with human dignity.”

Michaelson then asked, “Let me offer sort of the other side, who would say that, look, there may be some bad apples in ICE, there [are] bad apples in any organization, but ICE has removed from the country murderers, rapists, child molesters, others. Isn’t that work valuable? And could defunding ICE make us less safe?”

Ruiz answered, “Well, there [are] two things to that: One is, it’s valuable, and we agree that any violent person or criminal needs to be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. And if they are [an] immigrant, they should be removed from our country. There is no dispute with that. The dispute is that that’s not what the real intention of these massive, indiscriminate raids and deportation efforts by the Trump administration on non-criminal immigrants and now the brutality towards civilian and citizen protesters that we’re witnessing [is]. And so, yes, there’s a way to continue to put the priority and the focus on the criminal, violent individuals. But note this, two things that I want to make sure that people understand: When you move your resources to go after non-criminal immigrants at schools, at hospitals, at churches, individuals who are paying taxes, individuals that are working in your neighborhoods, that have no criminal background, then you’re taking resources away from going after the drug smugglers, the human sex traffickers, and the violent criminals. In addition to that, the current state of affairs, where an unmarked vehicle, with an unidentified officer, with masks, carrying a gun, can pull any citizen over because they’re brown or black or Asian-looking and demand and harass citizens to see their passports, that’s causing fear and insecurity for individuals in and of itself.”

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