Dem Sen. Welch: Blocking DHS Funding Has ‘Very Little’ Impact on ICE, CBP

On Thursday’s “CNN News Central,” Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT) said that blocking DHS funding will do “very little” to restrict ICE and CBP, and “I think what has had some significant impact is the bravery of the people in Minneapolis who were out videorecording, and, essentially, stepping between ICE and their violence towards some innocent citizens in that town, and where we now see ICE is leaving Minneapolis, and that’s overdue.”

Co-host Brianna Keilar asked, “Does holding up this DHS funding actually do anything to hamstring the ICE and CBP operations that Democrats object to?”

Welch answered, “Well, very little, frankly. I think what has had some significant impact is the bravery of the people in Minneapolis who were out videorecording, and, essentially, stepping between ICE and their violence towards some innocent citizens in that town, and where we now see ICE is leaving Minneapolis, and that’s overdue. But, there [are] two questions here: One is — it should be the easier one — what standards should apply to that as a law enforcement agency? And as I mentioned, I think they should be subject to the same standards as anyone else. But the second — and this is the most important issue — should the president, should Homeland Security, should Kristi Noem be implementing this policy of mass deportation? Only 14% of the people who have been picked up and brought into custody have serious criminal records. So, what you’re seeing is that this wholesale demand by Kristi Noem that they reach quotas, like 3,000 a day, is that people are being picked up who are completely innocent, including U.S. citizens. And the president has had success on the border. The border’s secure, only 9,000 interactions last month. And there’s support for deporting criminals, but that’s a targeted approach. Where the president is absolutely wrong and Kristi Noem is absolutely wrong is this mass roundup where you’re going to farms in Vermont, you’re going to construction sites in Vermont and other places around the country, and where you’re bringing in, as they did in Minneapolis, 3,000 armed and pretty trigger-happy ICE agents, that is completely disrupting the city and interfering with local law enforcement. So, I hope we get to the debate about the wisdom of a mass deportation policy. I oppose that. It’s hurting everybody.”

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