Rep. Ratcliffe Votes Against Democratic Call to Abolish ICE

Statement

Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) voted today for the passage of legislation (H.Res. 990) to back the critical mission of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency and knock down recent calls by Democrats in Congress to abolish it.

"It's not surprising that my Democratic colleagues are, once again, playing political games with Americans' safety. Their proposal to abolish ICE -- the very agency tasked with shielding our citizens from dangerous terrorists, gang members, sex traffickers and drug traffickers -- is nothing short of nonsensical and represents an outright rejection of the responsibility we have to protect the people we serve," Ratcliffe said.

In the last fiscal year, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations arrested 127,000 criminal aliens. This included 76,000 dangerous drug offenses, 48,000 assault offenses, 11,000 weapon offenses, 5,000 sexual assault offenses, 2,000 kidnapping offenses and 1,800 homicide offenses. At the same time, ICE Homeland Security Investigations made 4,818 gang-related arrests.

"As a former U.S. attorney, I was the top federal law enforcement officer for more than 33,000 miles of North and East Texas. This service gave me a deep, personal appreciation for the brave men and women at agencies like ICE who are dedicated to enforcing the rule of law. As a member of Congress, I'm committed to continuing my support of their important work on behalf of our national security and the safety of our communities."

Source