Sen. Kamala Harris Likens ICE Tactics to KKK

What’s the story?

• Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) is under fire for asking Ronald Vitiello, the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), if he’s aware of the "perception" of similarities between his agency and the KKK.
• Vitiello had described the Democratic Party as “NeoKlanist.” When Harris asked him during a hearing about this, Vitiello said he hadn’t “meant it that way” and the words were “wrong” because the KKK “tried to use fear and force to change [the] political environment” and were motivated by “race and ethnicity.”
• “Right,” Harris responded. “Are you aware of the perception of many about how the power and the discretion at ICE is being used to enforce the laws? And do you see any parallels?”

What are people saying?

• RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel slammed Harris for “disgusting” partisanship, tweeting:

• Conservative commentator Geraldo Rivera echoed these sentiments, tweeting:

• Fox Business host Trish Regan called the comments “outrageous” and “disgusting.”

• A spokeswoman for Harris said Fox News was trying to “manufacture outrage.”
• "It should come as a surprise to no one that Fox News is using distortion tactics and misinformation to manufacture outrage," the spokeswoman said in an email to The Hill.

"Senator Harris and her colleagues found it disturbing that a nominee to lead any government agency compared the Democratic Party to the KKK. Fox should too."

• Immediately after the hearing, Harris told reporters:

“There’s no question that the issue of the caravans was an issue that was inflated for political purposes, to influence the midterm elections.”

The full exchange

HARRIS: I think you would agree as a member of law enforcement that law enforcement generally speaking —and certainly it would be the case with ICE officers and agents — that a great deal of your power is discretionary. You have limited resources and you make decisions about what you’re gonna do, but you exercise a great deal of discretion in terms of how you are going to use the limited resources and how you are gonna prioritize them.

And then, understanding that, I think you would also agree that one’s perspective and their bias, if they have bias, will influence their exercise of discretion in terms of the power they have and how it will be used and implemented. So I want to return to the question that Senator Peters asked you about the statement you made describing the Democratic Party as “liberalcratic” or “NeoKlanist,” which was -- I think the assumption there was that you were comparing it to the Klu, Ku Klux Klan -- Klu [sic] Klux Klan, the KKK. So, you said in response to his question, you’re sorry because the words caused offense. So, would you not be sorry if no one was offended by your words?

VITIELLO: No, it was wrong to do.

HARRIS: Why was it wrong?

VITIELLO: Because those are offensive words.

HARRIS: Why are they offensive?

VITIELLO: Because they have history in this country and, and -- I, I honestly didn’t mean it that way.

HARRIS: But please talk about the history. What is the history that would then make those words wrong?

VITIELLO: Well, the Klan was what we would call today a domestic terrorist group.

HARRIS: Why? Why would we call them “domestic terrorist group” [sic]?

VITIELLO: ‘Cause they tried to use fear and force to change political environment [sic].

HARRIS: And what was the motivation for the use of fear and force?

VITIELLO: It was based on race and ethnicity.

HARRIS: Right. Are you aware of the perception of many about how the power and the discretion at ICE is being used to enforce the laws? And do you see any parallels?

VITIELLO: I do not see any parallels between sworn officers and agents-

HARRIS: [interrupting] I’m talking about perception. I’m talking about perception.

VITIELLO: I do not see a parallel between what is constitutionally mandated as it relates to enforcing the law.

What do you think?

Is this another example of the incendiary rhetoric coming out of DC? Or does ICE use “fear and force” tactics in its efforts to crack down on illegal immigration? Take action above, then share your thoughts below.

—Josh Herman

(Photo Courtesy of ICE)