Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton slammed Democratic Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib on Thursday for saying that she would like to eliminate funding for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the entire U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Cotton appeared on Fox News and was asked about Tlaib’s comments from a video uploaded Wednesday, in which she said the easiest way to cut funding for technology that would help fight illegal immigration in the U.S. amid the ongoing border crisis would be to eliminate all funding for the CBP, ICE and the DHS.
“Well, unfortunately I think she’s right. A lot of Democrats do support those radical views. They want to defund the police, they want to turn America into a sanctuary country for all illegal aliens from around the world, and now that logic is being extended to our border patrol, immigration and customs enforcement and all of DHS,” Cotton said in the interview. “It’d be interesting to me if Rashida Tlaib explained exactly who she thinks should be excluded from our country when they show up at our border, be respective of our laws, or who in America should be deported.”
“I mean, maybe her answer would be conservatives, or anyone who voted for Donald Trump last year, but it seems like beyond that, Rashida Tlaib and such Democrats think we should have totally open borders and anyone should be able to come into this country is a recipe for disaster,” Cotton added.
WATCH:
In addition to defunding the police, Rashida Tlaib now wants to defund our immigration enforcement.
Sanctuary cities aren’t enough–Democrats want the United States to be a sanctuary country for all illegal aliens. pic.twitter.com/5Q9jWBtPiB
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) July 8, 2021
Tlaib’s comments came from a video meeting with Just Futures Law on June 2, a group that advocates against deportations.(RELATED: Rep. Rashida Tlaib Says We Must Eliminate Funding For CBP, ICE And The Entire DHS)
“The simple answer to that question is we must eliminate funding for CBP, ICE and their parent organization: DHS. Time after time, we have seen it, as advocates on the ground, as human services agencies on the ground, continue to see over and over again, that these agencies are inept to humanely guiding migrants, through our immigration system, and further continue, instead they further continue, to terrorize migrant communities located within our communities,” Tlaib said in the video. (RELATED: Rashida Tlaib: ‘We Didn’t Have ICE Years Ago Before 9/11 … We Were Fine’)
Tlaib has previously called for the defunding of ICE and the police.
In late June, House Democrats proposed a new spending bill that would cut funding to immigration enforcement agencies and rescind border wall funding. (RELATED: ‘The Squad’ Pushes To ‘Defund The Police’ While Spending Thousands On Private Security To Protect Themselves)
Border patrol apprehended 180,000 migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border in May, following 178,000 in April and 173,000 in March. Meanwhile, ICE deported the fewest number of illegal immigrants in the agency’s history.
