On Monday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Arena,” Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) argued that “if the Republicans think that, just because they have money for ICE, and that it’s okay not to pay TSA, not to pay Secret Service, not to pay the Coast Guard, then they’re in for a difficult road, in terms of the politics of this all, especially because they will be held accountable, they will be held responsible” and also said that “if you’re funding the government, you need Democrats. And if you’re going to need Democrats, you need to work in a bipartisan way. And so, it’s just unacceptable what we’re seeing with ICE.”
Host Abby Phillip asked, “So, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK)…says that Democrats are playing political theater with this. If DHS and ICE are funded for a few more years, as he points out, why is it that Democrats think that they can get concessions now, when it’s not actually the operations of ICE or Border Patrol that are impacted by this shutdown?”
Goldman responded, “Well, the American people agree that ICE — and ICE should not receive a single dime more. The one big, beautiful bill was the Republican-only effort to militarize ICE in order to terrorize our communities. And what we are standing for is what the American people believe. And if the Republicans think that, just because they have money for ICE, and that it’s okay not to pay TSA, not to pay Secret Service, not to pay the Coast Guard, then they’re in for a difficult road, in terms of the politics of this all, especially because they will be held accountable, they will be held responsible for shutting down the government because they refuse to accommodate very, very commonsense, basic ideals of this country. And I think that’s a risk that, if they’re willing to take, that’s fine. But we’re not funding another dime to the Department of Homeland Security until, not only those three things that I mentioned [unmasking ICE agents, requiring judicial warrants for searches, and addressing roving patrols] are put in place, but, also, in my view, that we make sure that the Department of Homeland Security cannot rig our election coming up in November.”
Phillip then asked, “But I also imagine you understand that that’s also a risk Democrats are taking, right? It sounds like you’re confident that the American people will not hold you all responsible for a shutdown, how can you be so sure?”
Goldman answered, “Well, look, nobody wants the shutdown, but Republicans consistently think that, because they have a majority, they can do whatever they want. Well, if you’re funding the government, you need Democrats. And if you’re going to need Democrats, you need to work in a bipartisan way. And so, it’s just unacceptable what we’re seeing with ICE. And rather than get into the political tit for tat, we’re standing on the principle of democracy, of American values, of not this authoritarian, fascist regime that is storming our streets with no accountability because the FBI is not investigating anything, and then layer on top of that, the clear desire and the clear intention to use immigration enforcement to help steal this upcoming election, as Kristi Noem has said that she effectively intends to do, this is a massive, massive five-alarm fire that needs to be addressed.”
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