Bernie Sanders declines to call for abolishing ICE

[RandySF]

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) declined to join other progressive politicos in endorsing the call to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during an appearance on CNN's State of the Union Sunday.

"More than a dozen Democratic congressional candidates reportedly support abolishing ICE," said host Jake Tapper. "Do you agree that ICE should be abolished?"

"I think that what we need is to create policies which deal with immigration in a rational way," Sanders answered, sidestepping the question. "And a rational way is not locking children up in detention centers or separating them from their mothers."

Tapper also pressed Sanders as to whether the left "only seemed to start caring about these [immigrant children detained by the government] under Trump," noting that some Democrats circulated photos "taken in 2014 under the Obama administration during the unaccompanied minors crisis from that year," unfairly attributing the situation depicted to Trump in 2018.

Sanders pushed back, arguing that Democrats had "a lot of concern about how undocumented people were treated under Obama," and that Trump's immigration policy operates at a distinct level of abuse.


http://theweek.com/speedreads/780968/bernie-sanders-declines-endorse-abolishing-ice

[Tipperary]

1. Color me not surprised. eom

[vi5]

2. So a dozen Democrats out of....how many?

Yet Bernie declining to call for abolishing ICE is more newsworthy than all the rest who also declined or haven't called for it.......why?

Don't get me wrong, they all should have their feet held to the fire on this and all of them should call for abolishing it. I'm not by any means letting Bernie off the hook. Just curious why him refusing is newsworthy but the rest aren't.

[klook]

3. Rep. Barbara Lee was on the same program and didn't call for the abolishment of ICE.

Yet the headline plucks out one moment from the program, where Sanders was asked to respond to Cynthia Nixon's call for the abolishment of ICE. Instead he said, "I think what we need is to create policies which deal with immigration in a rational way. And a rational way is not locking children up in detention centers or separating them from their mothers."

That BASTARD!

Sanders also praised Democrats' efforts earlier in the program:

Clearly, anyone who looks at the record understands that the Democrats in Congress have been serious about comprehensive immigration reform. That is what the American people want, and a path towards citizenship for people who are undocumented.

Democrats are serious about dealing with the DACA crisis in this country. Eighty percent of the American people think that we should provide legal status to the 1.8 million people in the DACA program.

The president rescinded Obama's executive order. These young people, raised in the United States, in school, working, are now fearful about being deported.

But this is the guy we need to be attacking. Ri-i-i-i-ight....

[Tom Rinaldo]

4. I think that is consistent with Barack Obama's position.

I think that is also the position of the Democratic Party as a whole. Let me know when Nancy Pelosi joins with those dozen or more Democratic candidates out of 435 who are staking out a position that breaks with our last President on this.

[stuffmatters]

6. Exactly. Does the OP think the Dem Party stands for abolishing ICE?

What is the point here?

[GulfCoast66]

5. The Democratic Party is not for open boarders

And President Obama vigorously enforced our laws. To do so we need an agency in charge.

Change its name if you wish, we will not, and should not totally eliminate the agency responsible for enforcing immigration law.

[kacekwl]

7. ICE should not be eliminated but

needs to be run properly. There is a need for ICE or whatever you want to call it but the way it is run by this administration is criminal.