Democratic Pennsylvania congressional candidate Ala Stanford stumbled over a question Tuesday about who should be in charge of immigration enforcement other than Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
NBC 10 Philadelphia reporter Lauren Mayk asked the question since Stanford has repeatedly called to abolish ICE. After pondering the question for a 20 seconds, Stanford suggested pausing the interview so she could think about her answer.
“From an immigration enforcement perspective, who do you think should be in charge of enforcing immigration laws?” Mayk asked.
“It’s a good question,” Stanford said. “And you can pause because I just want to think about it for a minute … Okay … Who do I think should be in charge of enforcing immigration laws? Not the executive branch. So not the president, so it belongs with Congress. It belongs with Congress.”
WATCH:
The Constitution directs the Executive Branch to enforce laws passed by Congress. In 2002, Congress granted ICE the authority to enforce immigration enforcement through the Homeland Security Act of 2002.
An large number of Democrats have collectively called to abolish ICE as a result of President Donald Trump’s hawkish immigration policies. These calls particularly skyrocketed following the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed by immigration enforcement while interfering with their operations in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has called for abolishing the agency since first running for Congress in 2018 and Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar vowed to fight to end the agency in her 2018 victory speech. Democratic Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, along with Reps. Ro Khanna of California, Seth Moulton of Massachusetts and Pramila Jayapal of Washington have all called to abolish the agency during Trump’s second term.
Attacks against ICE agents surged 1,300% in January, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Officers also faced an 8,000% increase in death threats against them as of January.
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