'Is This What We Thought We'd See?': Becca Balint Claims That ICE's Goal Is To Create 'Mass Fear'

Forbes Breaking News

In House floor remarks, Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) tore into ICE.

Transcript

00:00Thank you Mr. Speaker. Right now ICE is showing up at courthouses across the

00:12country waiting to arrest people after their official immigration hearings. Is

00:18this what we thought we'd see in America? ICE officials lying in wait to grab

00:23people who are actually following the rules? In some cases these people had

00:29just had their cases dismissed. They walked into court following the rules,

00:34doing what they were told, following the legal pathways and they're being taken

00:39into unmarked cars and fast-tracked for deportation. And let's be clear, this isn't

00:46about catching dangerous criminals. It was never about catching dangerous

00:51criminals. These are moms, these are dads, these are students, these are grandparents,

00:56these are workers, people who are trying to get through the legal process the

01:01right way. But ICE is turning our courthouses into traps. The very places

01:08that immigrants are supposed to go to, to follow a legal path to citizenship, have

01:14now become traps to lure people in so that they can be arrested, detained and

01:20disappeared. ICE tricked a Vermonter, Mosa Madawi, he's been legally in our state for

01:2610 years. He showed up for the final step in his citizenship process, the final step,

01:33only to have masked men detain him after he exited the courthouse. He knew it was a

01:41risk to show up, but he decided it was worth the risk to maybe finally become an

01:45American. Imagine going to court following the process and then getting arrested the

01:54second you step outside. That's what's happening in America right now. And last

01:58month in San Francisco, four asylum seekers were taken by ICE after their

02:05hearings were over. In New York City, even a city official, Comptroller Brad Lander,

02:11was detained by ICE while trying to support an immigrant friend. If they are

02:17willing to rough up city officials and mayors and even a sitting U.S. senator, what

02:24does that mean for the rest of us? These tactics are to scare people and people are

02:30now afraid to go to court. How does that possibly make our country more safe? People

02:37are skipping hearings, risking automatic deportation because they don't trust the

02:42system anymore. How is anyone supposed to follow the legal steps if even those are

02:50now a risk? Republicans claim over and over again in committees that this is only

02:55about illegal immigration. It's not. If that were the case, then they would be just

03:01as outraged as I am that people are being snatched outside of their hearings in

03:08court. It is an attack on due process, plain and simple. It's an attack on the

03:14idea that we all deserve a fair shot in this country. It's also a clear tactic to

03:20instill fear in all of us so that we will be intimidated into submission and we

03:27will stop standing up for our neighbors. ICE agents without visible IDs, without any

03:34official markings on them, with masks, they're acting more like vigilantes than

03:43of agents of our government. How can we even trust that these are government

03:48officials? It's nothing more than kidnapping and it needs to stop. No more

03:55secret arrests, no more plainclothes agents waiting outside of courtrooms. This

04:00kind of thing does not happen in democracies. It doesn't. The only way to

04:07protect Americans from these abuses is to provide due process to anyone facing

04:14deportation. Due process exists to protect American citizens, to protect all of us

04:21from wrongful deportation and wrongful detention. But this administration does

04:27not seem to care about this complete and total violation of our constitutional

04:33rights. A right that we are all entitled to regardless of status. Under Trump, ICE and

04:42DHS have become a means to carry out political arrests and to silence anyone

04:51that disagrees with their extreme agenda. That's what we're looking at right now.

04:57It's never been about removing the criminals. It's always been about creating

05:03mass fear, mass intimidation, so they can retain more power. This is not what Americans want.

05:16I need my Republican colleagues to fight for everyone in their districts. I need them to

05:22speak up. Where is your line?

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