We need to talk about something absolutely shameful. This is a longer email and I hope that you’ll take the time to read the whole thing.
Under the Trump Administration, we’ve seen gross negligence and abuses of power from DHS when it comes to ICE. Recently, two suspected MS-13 gang members were hired by ICE and sent to federal law enforcement training. Nobody caught them until someone noticed their gang tattoos.
This is not a one-off. A career ICE official with 17 years at the agency, who ran the unit responsible for vetting new hires, filed a whistleblower complaint. He alleged that the Trump administration hired armed agents without completing their background checks. He warned of “grave national security risks” and an “unprecedented lowering of standards.”
Why? To hit a goal of 10,000 new ICE agents, the administration dropped age limits, cut training short and fast-tracked applicants.
We’ve seen what happens next. In Maine, an ICE agent with repeated domestic violence allegations shot and killed an unarmed man. A local official said that he had “too many red flags” to be hired by the town’s police department. Too many red flags to be a police officer, but able to wield a deadly weapon with ICE.
That’s why I’m demanding answers. I want to know who is responsible for waiving the vetting rules, how many agents are on the job without background checks and what other problems DHS may have ignored.
Last month, I sent a letter demanding answers. But here’s the problem with that: Right now, ICE can ignore a letter.
But if Democrats take back the Senate, ignoring us will be much more difficult.
Election Day is just nine days away, and what happens then will determine if we will have two years of accountability or two years of more unchecked power from Trump and his cronies.
Please, will you chip in $5 right away to help make sure Democrats win back a Senate Majority and ensure that we can do this important work?
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With every good wish,
Maggie Hassan
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