House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested Monday that ICE officers are “kicking down doors” to deport illegal immigrants, and questioned why the administration would want to deport people from the interior of the country.
Speaking at an event with Rep. Grace Meng in New York, Mrs. Pelosi said Democrats will try to pass legislation to ease conditions for illegal immigrants arriving at the border.
But she questioned the means and method of deporting people who’ve managed to sneak past the border or, in most recent cases, were released on the condition they show up later to be deported.
“In terms of interior enforcement, what is the — what’s the point?” she wondered, in a video Republican operatives quickly posted to the internet.
Mrs. Pelosi didn’t expand on her comment, saying the event with Ms. Meng wasn’t intended to be political.
Just before that, she had blasted President Trump for his plans to have U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers try to arrest and deport thousands of migrant families who jumped the border, were ordered deported, and are ignoring those orders.
Mrs. Pelosi on Friday pleaded with Mr. Trump to postpone the deportations and on Saturday he agreed — though he said if Democrats don’t come to the table to strike a deal on ending the incentives drawing illegal immigrants to the U.S., he will restart the deportation plans in two weeks.
Mrs. Pelosi on Monday signaled she won’t take the president up on his offer.
“It’s so appalling, It’s outside the circle of civilized human behavior, to just kicking down doors, splitting up families, and the rest of that, in addition to the injustices happening at the border,” Mrs. Pelosi said.
It’s not clear what scenarios Mrs. Pelosi was referring to.
She didn’t say why families would be separated.
And ICE civil arrest warrants do not allow officers to kick down doors, according to the American Civil Liberties Union’s immigrant-rights fact sheets.
If an illegal immigrant declines to open the door for deportation officers, they do not have the right to enter, the ACLU says.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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