Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi D-Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer D-N.Y., had stern looks and words for President Trump after he addressed the nation from the Oval Office. But the remarks from Democratic leadership should also be seen as a reprimand of members of their own party, specifically those who use slogans like “abolish ICE” as a talking point.
Throughout their rebuttal, both Democrats stated that they do support border security and that there were real problems at the border that needed to be addressed.
“We all agree we need to secure our borders, while honoring our values,” Pelosi said. “We can build the infrastructure and roads at our ports of entry; we can install new technology to scan cars and trucks for drugs coming into our nation; we can hire the personnel we need to facilitate trade and immigration at the border; we can fund more innovation to detect unauthorized crossings.”
Schumer, speaking second, added, “Make no mistake: Democrats and the president both want stronger border security.”
Those points don’t square well with some of the more progressive members of their caucus who campaigned on “abolish ICE” and have questioned the need for funding for border security and immigration enforcement. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for example, speaking on MSNBC after remarks from Democratic leadership, opined: “The president should be really defending why we are funding [ICE] at all.”
Although there are plenty of valid criticisms of specific ICE actions and enforcement (as with any other agency), calls for the agency to be defunded or abolished are simply ludicrous. They also miss out on addressing the real security issues acknowledged by both Pelosi and Schumer.
Democrats who are serious about both security and humanitarian concerns would have a much clearer message without these untenable positions espoused by members of their own party. From their perspective, it’s too bad that Ocasio-Cortez didn’t get the message.
