“ICE has a legitimate purpose”: Dems break ranks to vote for more ICE funding

Several House Democrats split from the party line to vote in favor of a bill  that would fund the Department of Homeland Security, along with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The bill guarantees $3.84 billion for ICE custody operations nationwide, along with increasing Enforcement and Removal Operations funding to $5.45 billion.

Axios reported that House Minority Speaker Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y,, told colleagues in a closed-door meeting on Wednesday that he would oppose the bill, after Republicans refused to take his recommendations on reigning in ICE officers,. However, Jeffries’ disapproval did not deter seven Democratic representatives from supporting the bill.

Jared Golden didn’t want to tar all ICE agents with the same brush, in the wake of the agency’s actions in Minnesota.

“I am generally supportive of giving law enforcement the resources they need,” Golden said. “ICE has a legitimate purpose.”

The bill passed the House by a vote of 220-207. All seven Democrats who joined with Republicans, including Henry Cuellar of Texas and Don Davis of North Carolina, hail from districts that Donald Trump carried in the last presidential election.

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Cuellar previously spoke out against both ICE’s tactics and the killing of Renee Nicole Good, saying they “complicated” his attempts to stop ICE from going after legal workers in Texas.

“If they want to get rid of criminals, that’s one thing, but when they start going after the work side, that has an impact on our economy,” Cuellar told the Rio Grande Guardian on Tuesday.

Noted Trump administration critic Thomas Massie of Kentucky was the lone Republican to vote against the funding bill.