Speaking during a Senate hearing on ICE and Minnesota’s refusal to work with it to crack down on illegal immigration, Senator James Lankford (R-OK), Chairman of the Border Management, Federal Workforce, and Regulatory Affairs Subcommittee of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC), sounded off on the lies the media tells about ICE operation and the illegal immigration crackdown.
Such came as Sen. Lankford, who is typically regarded as a moderate conservative at best, and perhaps even a RINO, lambasted the radical left media for the manner in which it has repeatedly and routinely lied about ICE and those whom ICE has arrested. He also skewered Minnesota for failing ot satisfactorily work with ICE.
At one point during the exchange, Sen. Lankford battled with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, insisting that he and the media have lied about whether those who ICE have arrested have criminal records outside of being here illegally, noting that the statistic given is entirely false and very misleading.
He said, on that point, “To correct the record on a couple things I’ve heard just even in conversation today: This number of 14% of the folks have a criminal record, that ICE has detained, is actually not an accurate number. That number is 14% of violent criminals. That’s murders and rapes. Seventy percent of the folks that are arrested nationwide have a criminal record.”
Continuing on that point, he noted all of the horrible crimes the media is ignoring when it gives the 14% number, saying, “So it’s interesting that, I guess, there’s some folks that don’t see as important to arresting folks with five DUIs or that are drug dealers or robbers. They’re just interested in getting murders and rapists out.”
Adding to that, he argued that his constituents are supportive of seeing all illegal aliens, particularly those with any criminal record, deported. He said, “But I would say for most people in my state, if they have a criminal record, they’re interested in those folks being removed from the country. So 70% of the folks have been arrested nationwide by ICE in the past year…”
Watch him here:
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Also during the hearing, the senator thanked the ICE agents who are bravely putting their lives on the line to defend America, saying, “If you pass on a thank you to the men and women that literally put their lives on the line for the sake of the country every single day, I appreciate it. Because we hear story after story of death threats on ICE agents, on CBP, folks that are being randomly attacked, of vehicles being rammed into their vehicles, of rocks being thrown at them, threats that they have against their life and against their children.”
Continuing, he called on everyoone to thank them for their courage and sacrifices, saying, “The very real threats that they face every day has got to wear on them. So if you’d pass on our gratitude to the folks that are putting their lives on the line every day and facing those kind of threats for the nation… so please say thanks to them.”
And, noting that ICE is not just doing its job well, but doing it legally, he said, “There are thousands of arrests that are happening today that are happening by the book… Very few people are stopping to be able to say thanks to you. So I just want to make it clear what’s actually happening.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video