Ex-ICE Chief of Staff: ‘No One’ Believes Trump’s Immigration Raids Improve ‘Public Safety’

Former ICE chief of staff Jason Houser said not a single agent he has talked to believes President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration has been good for “public safety” in America.

Houser — who worked for ICE from 2021 to 2023 under ex-President Joe Biden — shared his input during a Tuesday appearance on MS NOW’s Deadline: White House.

Host Nicolle Wallace lamented to him that the American public is tired of the ICE raids. She pointed to Joe Rogan comparing ICE to Adolf Hitler’s Gestapo police and Bruce Springsteen demanding immigration agents ditch Minnesota as proof citizens are fed up.

Wallace also referenced the Minnesota Timberwolves holding a moment of silence to honor Renee Good after she was shot and killed earlier this month.

“I mean, this climate feels unsustainable,” Wallace vented. “Is there any sense that inside ICE that this is unsustainable?”

Houser told her that was the impression he got as well. He said he recently talked to his former ICE colleagues and “dozens, if not hundreds” of state and local cops who are all disenchanted.

“Any officer — former or current that I hear from — the sort of [way] this is being carried out, no one sees sort of in the public safety interest,” Houser said.

He continued, saying there have been “systemic failures across multiple administrations” when it comes to enforcing immigration laws. But he said the way the Trump administration is currently enforcing those laws is starting to “personally affect not just migrants, but our communities.”

Houser said there are a number of issues — from “political opportunism” to “quota-arrest targets” to “driving fear” to deter asylum seekers — that he takes issue with.

He added DHS and ICE were “not built to oversee 14 million individuals on the immigration docket.”

Houser’s appearance on MS NOW came just a few hours after President Trump kicked off a White House press briefing by applauding his administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.

The president flashed a number of print-outs with mug shots of apprehended illegal immigrants as well as captions with their alleged crimes.

“Boy, these are rough characters,” Trump said as he flipped through the images.

He also asked the room full of reporters, “Do you want to live with these people?”

Trump applauded the ICE “patriots” who are making the arrests, before ripping ex-CNN star Don Lemon for following anti-ICE protesters who stormed a church last weekend.

“[ICE agents] have to be abused by guys like Don Lemon, who’s a loser, lightweight,” Trump said.

Watch Houser on MS NOW above.

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