In yet another example of Democratic politicians losing their composure at the mere thought of immigration laws actually being enforced, Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) went on national television and lashed out at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for doing its job — detaining and deporting illegal aliens, even in sanctuary cities.
Kelly’s outrage comes in the wake of a major ICE crackdown targeting cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York — jurisdictions where liberal leaders openly defy federal immigration law. The operation has successfully removed dangerous criminals and other unlawful migrants from U.S. communities. But to Kelly and his open-borders allies, enforcing the law is “going too far.”
Appearing on CBS’s *Face the Nation* with Margaret Brennan, Kelly claimed that while Americans might dislike the chaos at the border under President Biden, they supposedly don’t want mass deportations either. “I don’t think this is what the American people wanted,” he said — a statement directly at odds with recent polls showing overwhelming support for stronger immigration enforcement.
Kelly attempted to paint a false distinction between securing the border and deporting those already in the country illegally. “We have now swung drastically in another direction,” he complained, ignoring the fact that real border security requires both stopping illegal entry and removing those who have already broken the law by crossing it.
Host Margaret Brennan even pointed out that immigration is a top voter priority — and one of the main reasons Donald Trump carried Arizona by nearly six points — but Kelly still doubled down. Instead of acknowledging the will of the voters, he resorted to emotional anecdotes designed to tug at heartstrings and distract from the central issue: illegal immigration is a crime.
Kelly criticized ICE for allegedly “rounding up people in their communities” and for detaining minors — conveniently omitting that federal law requires the detention of illegal aliens, regardless of age, pending deportation proceedings. He recounted stories of teenagers in his state who were allegedly picked up on their way to school or at sporting events, portraying them as victims rather than individuals whose families chose to violate U.S. immigration laws.
In his closing remarks, Kelly accused Border Patrol agents of “racial profiling” and claimed their actions don’t align with “our values.” This rhetoric is a tired talking point from the left, used to smear law enforcement officers who risk their lives every day to uphold the law and protect American citizens.
The reality is simple: Americans want secure borders, and that means detaining and deporting illegal aliens. Sanctuary city policies have turned neighborhoods into magnets for lawlessness, and ICE’s latest operation is a long-overdue step toward restoring the rule of law.
Senator Kelly may prefer to stand with those who break our immigration laws, but the American people — particularly in his own border state — are demanding leaders who stand with them. ICE is finally doing what the Biden administration refused to do for years, and no amount of grandstanding from open-borders politicians should stop it.
