ICE Critic Rand Paul Defends Agency in Clash with Katie Couric on Surprising Arrest Stats

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) may be a vocal critic of recent ICE actions, but he came to the agency’s defense in a clash with Katie Couric on her podcast on Wednesday.

In the interview posted to Couric’s YouTube channel, Paul pushed back on Couric, taking issue with the number of illegal immigrants with violent criminal records who have been arrested. According to a CBS News report released this week — and based on a Department of Homeland Security document obtained by the news outlet — 14% of 400,000 illegal immigrants arrested during President Donald Trump’s first term have violent criminal histories.

Couric argued the number seemed low when taken in the context of the administration’s repeated goal of deporting violent criminals in the country illegally.

“Isn’t all this talk about ridding the country of violent criminals a massive overstatement if less than 14%, again, of the 400,000 immigrants being arrested had charges or convictions for violent criminal offenses?” Couric asked Paul.

The senator has been a critic of the strategies deployed by federal immigration agents in their mass deportation efforts. He called the shooting and killing of Minneapolis citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti by agents a mistake and has called for reforms in the agency.

He’s also pushed for an apology from officials to the families of Good and Pretti.

Still, Paul argued the 14% statistic doesn’t matter to victims of violent crime and that most Americans support deportation efforts, even if they don’t support specific incidents like the shooting of Pretti.

“If you ask them, ’If a guy has committed rape, and he’s in prison, and he is going to get out, do you want him deported?’ I think people would say, ‘Hell yes, he ought to be deported,'” he said.

“Having said that, though, what about the 14%, such a low percentage of 400,000 people?” Couric asked again.

“If your daughter gets raped by the guy that gets back out, and he’s one of the 14%, I don’t think you’re going to quibble about whether it’s 14 or 64,” the senator shot back. “What I’m saying, though, is that if you’re not going to turn over anybody, then that’s 0%. I don’t think the percentage – it makes a halfway argument to how much effort should we have, but if Minnesota’s not going to turn over anybody, the whole argument — whether it’s 14 or 86 — doesn’t mean anything.”

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