Dems can make all the demands they want on ICE arrests. They won't get answers. | Opinion
There is nothing Democrats in Congress can do to stop the Trump administration's amoral actions unless Republicans decide to honor their oaths and help them.
I’m picturing a giggling young aide skipping into Kristi Noem’s office at the Department of Homeland Security and excitedly saying, "Would you like to see something really funny, Madam Secretary?”
Then, I see them handing over the letter sent to Noem on May 28 from Arizona’s Democratic congressional delegation. Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego, along with Reps. Greg Stanton and Yassamin Ansari, want to know why Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in plainclothes and masks were outside immigration court in Phoenix scooping up individuals who were following all the rules and reporting for asylum hearings before a judge.
A press release accompanying the letter the group sent to Noem said the two senators and two representatives “demand answers from DHS and ICE.”
That would be the part that had Noem and her merry band of MAGA acolytes rolling in the aisles.
Demand. Oooooooooooo, scary.
NOT.
Pointing out cruelties and flaws won't get them fixed
All the parties involved in this little exchange know that the only thing the Democrats can do is make noise.
Arizona's congressional members say in their letter that "targeting immigrants without a criminal record who are following the law by showing up for their scheduled immigration hearing has only created chaos and does not make our communities safer.”
That is true.
They say: "These tactics make our immigration system less efficient and fair and discourage individuals from appearing for future hearings.”
Also true.
They say that the operation is taking "law enforcement away from drug trafficking and human trafficking cases to target noncriminal immigrants," and that "serious criminals may be allowed to continue roaming the streets at large ‒ making Arizonans less safe.”
Again, right on the money. And again in response ‒ giggles.
A very funny thing, although not in a HAHA way. Not at all.
I’d guess Noem found it especially humorous because on the very day the Democratic lawmakers sent their letter to her, there were reports that ICE agents had resumed the practice of hauling off immigrants who showed up for court.
KJZZ quoted a man who said he saw ICE agents taking people into custody: "They took this lady and her child. The child couldn’t be more than 3 or 4 years old.”
An ICE spokesperson declined to confirm the arrest or that the agency had resumed operations.
Of course they wouldn’t confirm it. Just as Noem won’t be in any particular hurry to answer the Arizona Democrats’ letter, if she responds at all.
She knows there is nothing Democrats in Congress can do to stop the Trump administration's amoral actions unless Republicans decide to honor their oaths and help them.
And Republicans would rather have mothers and children hauled off by masked men with guns than risk angering Dear Leader.
Funny, isn’t it?
Although, not in a haha way. Not at all.
EJ Montini is a columnist at the Arizona Republic, where this column originally appeared. Reach him at ed.montini@arizonarepublic.com