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Jan. 24, 2026 00:48-01:00 - CSPAN
11:53
Washington Journal Rep. Adriano Espaillat D-NY
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ICE's Violent Narrative 00:11:34
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Joining us from New York this morning is Congressman Adriano Espayat.
He is the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Thank you so much for being with us, sir, as always.
Let's start with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
What role are you playing in the debate over ICE actions?
Thank you.
Thank you for having me first and foremost, Greta.
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, as you know, is a 43-member entity, which includes four U.S. senators, that has been at the forefront of the entire immigration debate.
We have developed a strategy of confronting that budgetarily and legislatively, also to look at possibilities to act upon some of those actions in the courtrooms across the country, and finally trying to formulate public sentiment around what is going on with ICE and immigration in general.
In fact, one of our members, Senator Alex Padilla, very early on was, I believe, assaulted by ICE in California, thrown up against the wall, thrown slammed on the floor.
The entire country saw what happened.
This was very early on when the debate began to heat up.
But now we're in the courtrooms.
We have been involved with gaining access to the detention centers, preventing the IRS from sharing confidential tax information of Americans, as well as holding the airlines accountable from selling passenger data to ICE.
We have been involved in several court cases.
We are currently debating and putting together a comprehensive ICE legislation that will be introduced in the next couple of weeks.
That will be, I think, a roadmap for the rest of the Democratic conference to follow.
Yesterday in the House, a measure to fund the Homeland Security Department and ICE was approved 220 to 207.
Seven Democrats joined all the Republicans to approve it.
The majority of Democrats, including you, oppose the measure.
Why?
We feel that ICE is a runaway train, that it has become an aggressive and violent weapon.
In fact, a deadly weapon.
We saw what happened in Minnesota with the killing of Renee Good.
We've seen their aggressive tactics, pulling women out of vehicles, slamming them on the floor.
In fact, if you take a look at it, the level of arrest of immigrants has gone up 2,450%.
And 92% of those in ICE custody today are folks that have no criminal record.
How do you know that number?
Where does that number come from?
Well, the data is there, and we know that, in fact, most of the people stopped by ICE.
We visited the detention centers themselves.
I personally have visited them and spoken to the people held in custody there.
And what it shows is that the president lied to us.
He said he was going to arrest violent criminals.
And in fact, what he's doing is he's stopping and arresting people that have no criminal conviction.
In fact, within those folks, over 100 people that have been stopped, questioned, detained are U.S. citizens.
And so this is a runaway train.
ICE should be dismantled.
We should have a deep discussion about the future of the agency so that it has a human face.
Take a look at a recent poll that was conducted by YouGov when they asked the question, eliminate ICE as a federal agency.
42% said that they strongly or somewhat support that idea.
45% said they somewhat or strongly oppose that idea.
So it would appear Americans are split on this question of abolishing ICE.
And some on the left warn that the cries for defunding the police from a few years back went too far and cost Democrats some elections.
Are you concerned about the political fallout on calling for the abolishment of ICE?
Well, in fact, those numbers show that the American public is leaning now in our direction.
And we're asking for dismantling ICE, which means let's take it apart.
Anything that's not working should be taken apart and should be made better.
And so right now, the violent behavior and culture that is gripping ICE is unacceptable.
And the vast majority, over 54% of the American people feel that ICE is going in the wrong direction.
They feel it is too aggressive.
And so let's take a look at it.
Should ICE officer be masked?
Should they be anonymous without a first name and a last name, no shield number?
Will you open your door to someone that's masked and you don't know whether they are in fact an ICE agent or somebody that may want to harm you?
Where are they recruiting these officers?
Are they being trained properly?
Do they have the mental fitness to do the job?
Do they have to carry high caliber weapon?
Immigration is a civil law issue.
It's not a criminal law matter.
And so these are all legitimate questions that we must debate as the American people continue to lose faith in an agency that blatantly and openly and visibly, you see it every day, are being very aggressive and assaulting and shooting people across America.
So we're very concerned that this is happening and that it's happening to people that have not committed a crime, that are just providing for their families.
And that in fact, the president lied to us when he said that he was just going to round up the bad guys, criminals.
In fact, he's rounding up every day residents and Americans.
And we're appalled about that.
Congressman, is it a crime to be in the United States without proper documentation?
It's a civil law matter.
It's not a criminal law matter.
And as such, in fact, immigrants are not automatically entitled to free or legal services because the matter is a civil law matter.
If you break the law while you're here, then obviously it's a criminal law matter.
And we're not saying that if you are a violent person that has committed and be found guilty or committed a violent crime, that you should not be held to the letter of the law.
What we're saying is that most of the people, 92% of the people in ICE custody right now, have not committed a crime and have not been found guilty of a criminal matter.
Let's get to calls.
Catherine, New Jersey, Democratic Caller, you are up first for the congressman.
Good morning, Greta.
Happy New Year to everybody.
Representative, I wanted to know when did ICE start to wear masks?
And because they're wearing masks, I think they're doing things that they wouldn't normally do.
So if you could answer that question and thank you for your service up there and keep up the good fight, good day.
Thank you so much.
Well, yesterday we met with former Secretary Mayorkas and he told us that that was in the policy of the agency when he was there.
That this is an aberration, a departure from the normal.
That in fact, you know, law, law-abiding and agencies across the country, police departments, state law enforcement agencies, for the most part, if not in its entirety, do not wear a mask.
When you see a police officer, even detectives, for example, in the New York City Police Department, involving very complicated cases and maybe even violent cases, do not wear a mask.
They have a first name, a last name, a shield number, and they knock on your door and they show their credentials.
By the way, this helps build confidence between law enforcement and our communities.
Right now, ICE is an anonymous agency, and as such, because it is anonymous, because it's under the radar, is committing very violent, and I would dare to say, illegal acts.
Listen to Vice President JD Vance in Minneapolis yesterday in support of ICE agents.
Guys behind me are doing an incredible job.
And frankly, a lot of the media is lying about the job that they do every single day.
Now, it doesn't mean that there aren't occasionally stories out there, there aren't occasionally videos out there that suggest that these guys, or at least some of the people who work for them, are not doing everything right.
But very often, if you look at the context of what's going on, you understand that these people are under an incredible amount of duress, an incredible amount of chaos.
And because of a few very far-left agitators, a lot of these guys are unable to do their jobs without being harassed, without being doxed, and sometimes without being assaulted.
That's totally unacceptable.
And that's one of the things that I want to send a message to: yes, come out and protest, protest me, protest our immigration policy, but do it peacefully.
If you assault a law enforcement officer, the Trump administration and the Department of Justice is going to prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.
Congressman, your reaction.
The protest has been, for the most part, peaceful.
In fact, the ICE behavior, I think, is provoking in some ways people to get violent or to react so that then the narrative could change.
The reality is that 42 people, 35 people last year and seven already this year, have died while in ICE custody or at the hands of ICE agents.
This is what's happening right now.
This is not rocket science.
Current Cruelties 00:00:17
We see it for what it is.
We see it every day.
A sitting U.S. senator, yesterday, a five-year-old child.
Before that, a woman was dragged out of her car and slammed on the floor.
Prior to that, Renee Good was shot in the face.
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