Seventy-five House Democrats voted on Monday in support of a resolution that praised President Donald Trump’s deportation regime.
The vote came as Trump deployed more than 1,700 National Guard members and 700 Marines to Los Angeles to crush protests against increased U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and mass arrests.
Sponsored by Rep. Gabe Evans, R-Colo., a pro-Israel Republican, the bulk of the resolution was dedicated to condemning the attack last month in Boulder, Colorado, against pro-Israel demonstrators calling for the release of hostages in Israel.
Tucked into the text was a line praising ICE, expressing “gratitude to law enforcement officers, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel, for protecting the homeland.”
While some Democrats are busy joining Republican colleagues to praise ICE, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., is seeking to pass a law that holds police accountable for violence against protesters. Her bill, introduced in late May, would apply penalties to law enforcement for using force in response to a demonstration.
“Now, more than ever, it’s important that we’re doing everything we can to protect Americans’ right to free speech and peaceful protest,” Omar said. “That’s why I introduced legislation to make law enforcement violence against protesters a federal crime.”
The military response to the protests is not just about immigration, said Omar, but represents another step in Trump’s efforts to crush dissent.
“In my district and across the country, we’re seeing the Trump Administration use militarized force to silence, intimidate, and brutalize, not just protestors for exercising their First Amendment right, but also members of the press,” Omar said in a statement to The Intercept. “This appears to be part of a broader more sinister and deeply un-American agenda to surveil and criminalize individuals for their political views.”
