The White House[1] fired an extraordinary shot at Sen. Kamala Harris[2] on Monday, taking to Twitter to accuse her of siding with a violent criminal gang over the country’s immigration enforcement agency.
Ms. Harris[3], a California Democrat seen to be eyeing a run at President Trump[4] in 2020, has suggested the need to scrap U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The White House[5]’s official twitter account said it figures Ms. Harris[6] doesn’t know what ICE’s responsibilities are.
“@SenKamalaHarris, why are you supporting the animals of MS-13? You must not know what ICE really does,” the White House[7] said, adding a link to an ICE press release describing deportation of an MS-13 member and other immigration targets.
Ms. Harris[8] quickly took to the Internet to fundraise off the attack, asking supporters to pony up to help her battle the White House[9].
“Let me be very clear: As a career prosecutor, I actually went after gangs and transnational criminal organizations. That’s being a leader on public safety. What is not, is ripping babies from their mothers,” she said in her fundraising plea.
ICE is the agency that handles immigration detention and deportation — two areas of Mr. Trump[10]’s policy that Democrats have objected to — but the agency also investigates online sex predators, combats violent gangs, sniffs out counterfeit merchandise and handles some cybersecurity investigations.
Abolishing the agency has become a major campaign issue for some Democrats on the left fringe of their party, though party leaders downplay such talk, saying instead that reforms are necessary.
Mr. Trump[11], meanwhile, has offered a full-throated defense of the officers and agents who make up the agency....
The White House[12] twitter account has taken up the cause, firing off several tweets Monday pointing to ICE’s work taking down a drug trafficking operation and Customs and Border Protection officers’ arrest of 21 criminals a day at official U.S. ports off entry.