NY Governor Calls ICE Agents 'Thugs,' Gets Reality Check from Former ICE Director
The New York gubernatorial primary race between incumbent Andrew Cuomo and challenger Cynthia Nixon has seen the two Democrats battling over which of them has the most hatred for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
Nixon, a former actress on “Sex in the City,” declared in June that ICE is a “terrorist organization” that should be abolished.
Not to be outdone, Cuomo, who in April labeled ICE’s enforcement of immigration laws “reckless and unconstitutional” as he threatened to sue the agency, ratcheted up his rhetoric in a debate Wednesday night.
The governor proudly said his state “will not cooperate with ICE, they’re a bunch of thugs.”
That comment brought a scathing response Thursday from former acting ICE Director Tom Homan.
Homan, appearing on “Fox & Friends,” said the governor’s words were “disgusting.”
“To call ICE agents ‘thugs,’ think about it: These are men and women who are fathers and mothers and brothers and sisters, sons and daughters, that chose to enforce the laws of this country, strap a gun to their hip every day and put a Kevlar vest on to go out to the community and protect America and protect the community,” Homan said. “He calls them ‘thugs.’
“Actually, ICE arrests ‘thugs’ — MS-13 members, gang members, drug traffickers. We arrested over 5,000 criminal aliens off the street in New York (and) many walked out of his sanctuary jails.”
Homan said ICE agents deserve at least a little recognition for the difficult job they do every day. Rather than calling them thugs, he said, Cuomo “ought to be writing a thank you letter.”
“It’s ridiculous,” he said.
Homan said the governor and other anti-ICE candidates are “putting their political ambitions ahead of public safety and border security.”
The “Fox & Friends” hosts then asked him about California gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom’s plan to grant free health care to illegal immigrants in that state and what effect such a policy would have.
“The more they dangle the sanctuary cities, benefits, licenses, ‘We’ll protect you from ICE,’ they entice more people to enter this country, which puts Border Patrol agents, ICE agents in danger,” Homan said. “It’s going to kill people.
“A lot of people die entering this country through the smuggling organizations. Women get raped. Children die in the river. Smugglers leave them stranded. …
“When you entice them with these things like sanctuary cities and free health care, you are causing more deaths on that border.”
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