Trump formally embraces ICE

WASHINGTON – President Trump held a White House event Monday to salute the officers of the U.S. Immigration and Customers Enforcement (ICE) and the Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

“Without the brave heroes of ICE, we would have no enforcement, no laws, no borders and therefore – we wouldn’t even have a country,” Trump said.

Trump held the event after several Democratic leaders – including Sens. Kristen Gillibrand and Elizabeth Warren and Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocario-Cortez — ICE be abolished.

A recent POLITICO/Morning Consult poll revealed that even with the left’s recent push, only a quarter of Americans want ICE eliminated.

• “Calls to abolish ICE are a grave betrayal of these law enforcement officers and the noble sacrifices they make to uphold our laws, secure our borders, and protect our safety,” Trump said. “Those calling to abolish ICE should justify their position to the 518 human trafficking victims and 904 child exploitation victims rescued or identified by ICE HSI in FY 2017 alone.”

He added that “ICE and CBP are responsible for enforcing our immigration laws and securing our borders, without which we would have no borders, no nation, and utter anarchy. Abolishing ICE would effectively open our borders and nullify our immigration laws, as even those apprehended for illegally crossing our border could not be removed.”

• The White House release these information points:
  • ICE removed 226,119 illegal aliens during fiscal year (FY) 2017.
  • ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) made 143,470 administrative arrests in FY 2017.
  • There were nearly 629,000 visa overstays in the United States in FY 2016.
  • ICE and CBP play a vital role in protecting our safety by combatting the flow of criminal aliens, gang members, and deadly drugs across our borders and into our communities.
  • Abolishing ICE would endanger the safety of all Americans and prevent the removal of criminal aliens, including members of the murderous, bloodthirsty MS-13 gang.
    • ICE-Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) made 4,818 gang arrests in FY 2017, including nearly 800 arrests related to MS-13.
    • In FY 2017, ICE ERO removed 5,396 suspected gang members from the United States.
• Trump added that in 2017  FY ICE arrested more than 127,000 criminal aliens, who were responsible for:
• More than 76,000 dangerous drug offenses;
• More than 48,000 assault offenses;
• More than 5,000 sexual assault offenses;
• More than 1,800 homicide offenses.
• ICE HSI made 11,691 narcotics-related arrests and seized 981,586 pounds of narcotics in FY 2017.
• ICE HSI is at the forefront of the war on opioids, seizing 2,370 pounds of fentanyl and 6,967 pounds of heroin in FY 2017.