President Donald Trump, in a letter released by the White House, called on state and local officials to start publicly praising the “sacrifice” that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents make.
“Through letters, public statements, op-eds, resolutions, and events, we can give our voice to our Nation’s longstanding tradition of honoring the public servants who protect our communities and our way of life,” Trump wrote on Monday.
On Monday Trump also honored ICE and Border Patrol agents during the “Salute to the Heroes of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs [and] Border Protection” event.
Trump stated in the letter that the agents have been faced with a series of unfair “smears” by politicians “catering to the extreme elements of our society that desire lawlessness and anarchy.”
“These horrendous assaults are no-doubt spurred on by the dangerous ‘Abolish ICE’ movement — a movement to abolish our borders entirely,” Trump added.
He said that “while anarchist protesters hurl vicious insults at ICE officers in Portland and other disturbing episodes nationwide, those same ICE officers continue to dutifully remove some of the most dangerous and violent individuals from the communities they protect — putting their lives on the line in the process.”
Trump also adds that ICE arrested more than 125,000 “aliens” with criminal records during the 2017 fiscal year.
Democratic lawmakers regularly criticize ICE over its role in carrying out Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy.
Many politicians, including Democratic Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Elizabeth Warren, demanded that the agency should be abolished.
According to an update from the Trump administration and the American Civil Liberties Union last week, 565 migrant children detained at the border remain in U.S. custody.
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