GOP Rep Criticizes ICE Detention of 5-Year-Old: ‘That Should Not Happen’

During a Friday appearance on MS NOW, Representative Mike Lawler (R-NY) criticized Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for taking five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father into custody, emphasizing, “That should not happen.”

Speaking with MS NOW’s Katy Tur, Lawler brought up the Tuesday encounter between ICE agents and the Ramos family, which occurred in the driveway of their Minneapolis home, just as Liam was returning from preschool.

“You have the situation with the five-year-old boy,” said Lawler. “That should not happen, and we don’t want that to happen, and that’s something that I think, you know, the Department of Homeland Security and immigration officials need to ensure does not happen again. And I will tell you —”

Tur then interrupted, saying, “There’s the five-year-old boy, there’s the guy in his underwear, there’s Renee Nicole Good, shot three times.” Here, she is referring to ChongLy “Scott” Thao, a U.S. citizen and grandfather who was detained by ICE agents wearing only his underwear in freezing Minnesota conditions on Sunday. ICE reportedly entered his home without a warrant, later claiming they were searching for a sex offender who, it turned out, was already in jail.

“Right,” said Lawler. “Katy, respectfully —”

“Hold on, let me get it out,” said Tur. “As a Republican who is running for his seat again, how do you promise [voters], ‘Listen, we’re gonna get this done, but we’re not gonna be terrible about it, we’re not gonna be cruel, we’re not gonna be mean about it. I’m not okay with what you’re seeing on TV either.'”

“Right,” responded Lawler. “So, a lot of things can be true at once, right? Number one, what happened with Renee Good was tragic. We don’t want to see anyone lose their life. At the same token, there’s a reason why people should not interfere with law enforcement, period.”

“They’re protesting,” clarified Tur.

“It’s fine to protest,” said Lawler. “You have the right to do that, but when you use your vehicle to block law enforcement from doing their jobs, and ultimately, she did hit the officer. He was injured. You can’t dismiss that.”

Tur went on to dispute Lawler’s read on the footage of Good’s fatal January shooting, emphasizing that “we haven’t had an independent investigation,” while Lawler continued to promote full immigration reform because “the system is broken.”

Watch the clip above via MS NOW.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!