(USA Features) Sen. Tom Cotton clapped back at Rep. Rashida Tlaib after the Michigan Democrat called for defunding and eliminating the Department of Homeland Security and its border enforcement agencies.
“The simple answer to that question is we must eliminate funding for CBP, ICE and their parent organization: DHS,” she said in a video meeting with Just Futures Law on June 2.
The organization advocates against the deportation of illegal immigrants.
“Time after time, we have seen it, as advocates on the ground, as human services agencies on the ground, continue to see over and over again, that these agencies are inept to humanely guiding migrants, through our immigration system, and further continue, instead they further continue, to terrorize migrant communities located within our communities,” she added.
Cotton, an Arkansas Republican, responded to Tlaib’s claims in the same video that the best way to cut funding for technology that will help to secure the border is to cut funding to DHS, along with ICE, Border Patrol, and Customs and Border Enforcement.
“Well, unfortunately, I think she’s right. A lot of Democrats do support those radical views,” Cotton began in an interview with Fox News.
“They want to defund the police, they want to turn America into a sanctuary country for all illegal aliens from around the world, and now that logic is being extended to our border patrol, immigration and customs enforcement and all of DHS,” Cotton continued.
“It’d be interesting to me if Rashida Tlaib explained exactly who she thinks should be excluded from our country when they show up at our border, be respectful of our laws, or who in America should be deported,” he continued.
“I mean, maybe her answer would be conservatives or anyone who voted for Donald Trump last year, but it seems like beyond that, Rashida Tlaib and such Democrats think we should have totally open borders and anyone should be able to come into this country is a recipe for disaster,” Cotton added.
“In addition to defunding the police, Rashida Tlaib now wants to defund our immigration enforcement. Sanctuary cities aren’t enough–Democrats want the United States to be a sanctuary country for all illegal aliens,” he added in a Twitter post with a video of his Fox News interview.
In addition to defunding the police, Rashida Tlaib now wants to defund our immigration enforcement.
Sanctuary cities aren't enough–Democrats want the United States to be a sanctuary country for all illegal aliens.
— Tom Cotton
“In late June, House Democrats proposed a new spending bill that would cut funding to immigration enforcement agencies and rescind border wall funding,” the Daily Caller reported.
Tlaib’s call to defund DHS as border authorities intercepted more than 180,000 illegal migrants in May, following 178,000 in April and 173,000 in March.
At the same time, ICE has deported the fewest number of illegal aliens in the agency’s history during the same period.