Democratic Congresswoman On MS NOW Calls for ICE to Be Abolished: ‘They Are Rogue, They Are Racist’

Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) told MS NOW on Sunday that Immigration and Custom Enforcement “cannot be reformed” and called for it to be abolished for the safety of all Americans.

“The actions of ICE, they are unconstitutional, unlawful, they are cruel,” Pressley said. “They are rogue, they are racist, and they are terrorizing communities.”

Pressley’s comments came in the wake of the ICE-involved shooting death of Renee Good in Minneapolis last week as she appeared to try to flee in her vehicle from an officer who demanded she leave her car.

Pressley continued, “This harm does not discriminate. It is coming for everyone. And that is exactly why ICE must be stopped, because they’re not operating with any Constitutional due diligence. They are lawless, they are masked thugs.”

“All of our communities are vulnerable to this rogue agency, and Congress must rein them in,” Pressley said. “And we have the power of the purse and appropriation to do just that. These things don’t happen in isolation. This is why, for many years, I’ve been calling for the abolishing of ICE.”

Pressley maintained that “ICE cannot be reformed.”

“This has nothing to do with a training or new protocols. This is about cultural practices that have been underway for many years,” she said. “I believe in doing that radical work and getting to the root cause of things. Again, Congress has the power of the purse and appropriations. We need to use it in this moment because this harm is is coming for everyone.”

“And, how did we get here?” Pressley asked. “Well, Donald Trump is in the Oval Office. He’s a dictator, he claims to care that he’s about public safety and that these actions are being done in the name of public safety. Are you feeling any more safe? I don’t know anyone feeling more safe. People are feeling less safe and more threatened by the probability of more state-sanctioned violence.”

Watch the clip above via MS NOW.

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