Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., acknowledged on Monday that the Biden administration "screwed up" when it comes to securing the southern border while also criticizing the Trump administration for arresting mostly migrants who have no criminal record.
During an appearance on Fox News' "Special Report," Warner was asked if he agreed with new Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger’s move to end state law enforcement collaboration with ICE to capture illegal immigrants with criminal records.
Warner responded by citing records showing that 75% of the people arrested by ICE in Virginia have no criminal record, even as the federal government continues to claim it is targeting the "worst of the worst" in its efforts to carry out President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda.
"They may have come across illegally into our country, but 75% of the people to have been arrested have no further criminal record," he said.
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Pressed on whether Virginia should work with ICE on the people who do have criminal records, Warner admitted the Biden administration "screwed up the border" but that targeting those with criminal records is not what is happening now under Trump.
"Let's potentially work on those who have criminal records," he said. "But that is different than what's happening right now, and the Biden administration screwed up the border, I'll be the first to acknowledge that, but the idea of masked ICE agents picking up moms dropping off their kids, folks going to work and, as we've seen at least in the circumstance in Minnesota, sometimes where kids are being left in the car after their parents that may or may not have been actually criminals are being picked up."
"I just think there ought to be a collaborative effort, and so far, at least based upon what I've seen in Minnesota, there is virtually no collaboration between local law enforcement and ICE, and I believe that is due to the ICE tactics," the senator continued.
This comes amid protests over an incident earlier this month in Minneapolis, where Renee Nicole Good, a U.S. citizen, was fatally shot by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, who fired into the driver's windshield and open window from the side of the vehicle and subsequently exclaimed "f---ing b----" as the car crashed into another parked vehicle.
Democrats and local residents have condemned the shooting as a murder and called for Ross' prosecution, while the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers have defended the incident by arguing that it was a justified shooting.
A week after that shooting, an ICE agent shot an alleged illegal immigrant in the leg during an arrest attempt. The Department of Homeland Security claimed the agent fired at the suspect because he was "fearing for his life and safety" after the individual resisted arrest and "violently assaulted the officer."
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"I think everybody's got a First Amendment right to protest, but I don't think those protests should include or involve disrupting religious services. That seems inappropriate. I do know that in Minneapolis, at least from what I've read, they've got about 3,500 ICE agents there, overwhelming the local cops at about 800," Warner said.
"I believe that local law enforcement is pretty damn good at going after actual criminals," the Virginia Democrat added. "But when we have ICE agents, I've seen in my state, sitting outside a courthouse, when somebody comes to do their hearing as they try to get legal status in our country, and they get picked up because they did the right thing in reporting in, I'm not sure that's the system we ought to be having at this point."
