Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington defended characterizing United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as a “terrorist force” during a Wednesday CNN appearance, demanding the White House apologize for the agency’s enforcement operations.
Jayapal made the comments after holding a closed-door roundtable in Spokane Monday, the Spokesman-Review reported. “CNN News Central” co-host Brianna Keilar asked Jayapal about her comments and her repetition of the term in a post on X, saying that White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson cited a 500% increase in assaults on ICE agents. (RELATED: Green Org Leader Admits She’s ‘More Concerned’ About Wildlife Than Living Humans At Alligator Alcatraz)
“What is deranged and cruel and outrageous is that literally, we are seeing ICE agents, I assume they’re ICE agents, they say they are. They don’t have any identification. They’re wearing masks. They’re in plain clothes. They are coming and kidnapping and disappearing people on the streets of the United States,” Jayapal said. “I never in a million years thought that that is something that I would see here in America.”
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“I think it is the administration that has to apologize to U.S. citizens that have been rounded up, to legal permanent residents, to people with legal statuses across the country who are getting swept up, people who have been here for 20 years and committed no crimes, getting swept up by masked men who are kidnaping them and deporting them,” Jayapal said. “That, to me, is what is so outrageous. It’s unconstitutional. It’s illegal, and it is absolutely terrorizing people, including small businesses, farmers.”
President Donald Trump issued several executive orders to address illegal immigration and border security, including designating Mexican drug cartels, the Venezuelan prison gang Tren de Aragua and the El Salvadoran prison gang MS-13 as foreign terrorist organizations upon taking office Jan. 20.
Rioting spread to multiple cities after initially flaring up in Los Angeles following an operation by ICE. In Seattle, rioters set a fire in a dumpster and were about to toss an American flag in when a man grabbed the flag from them, according to video posted on X June 12 by Post-Millennial reporter Katie Daviscourt.
“The roundtable I had in Spokane was with people from the Growers League, farmers who are terrified, restaurant owners who can’t have, you know, who are seeing their sales go down because nobody wants to come out and eat,” Jayapal said. “Literally, people are so afraid, Brianna. It‘s never something I thought I would see in the United States of America. The White House owes an apology to the American people for what they are doing.” (RELATED: ‘One-Stop Shop’: Ron DeSantis Shows Off New Alligator-Friendly Facility For Illegals)
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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