INTERVIEW: Rep. Darrell Issa: "We're representing the defenders of America; they're representing the invaders of America"

THE LOWDOWN:

• Recently, a Democratic member of San Diego’s progressive City Council called U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers “terrorists,” which prompted Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), who has had a front-row seat to America’s border crisis from his San Diego-based congressional district to fiercely criticize Councilman Sean Elo-Rivera in an interview with the Washington Reporter.

• Issa lambasted the “irresponsible behavior of the unaccountable city council” and blasted actions like theirs as reasons why he wants major reforms to America’s judicial system. Issa has led the way on the issue through the recently-passed No Rogue Rulings Act.

• A federal judge just temporarily prevented the Trump administration from deporting the illegal immigrant terrorist accused of firebombing a peaceful gathering of Jews in Colorado. To Issa, this ruling emphasizes the urgent need for the Senate to pass his bill and for President Donald Trump to sign it into law.

• Border hawks across America praised Issa’s work on securing the border to the Reporter. One said that “we need to update our conclusion that Democrats oppose deportation because of some high principle.”

Recently, a Democratic member of San Diego’s progressive City Council called U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers “terrorists,” which prompted Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), who has had a front-row seat to America’s border crisis from his San Diego-based congressional district to fiercely criticize Councilman Sean Elo-Rivera in an interview with the Washington Reporter.

“The actions of this person, someone who sits on a once-great city council, are emblematic of the challenges we’re facing: to enforce our immigration laws and not ignore them, as Democrats demand,” Issa said.

“Where Democrats have absolute power, absolute corruption follows,” he explained. “An all-Democratic city council thinks it’s accountable only to Democrats, and especially the ones who are physically assaulting ICE officers from one end of the country to the other.”

Issa lambasted the “irresponsible behavior of the unaccountable city council” and blasted actions like theirs as reasons why he wants major reforms to America’s judicial system. Issa has led the way on the issue through the recently-passed No Rogue Rulings Act.

A federal judge just temporarily prevented the Trump administration from deporting the illegal immigrant terrorist accused of firebombing a peaceful gathering of Jews in Colorado. To Issa, this ruling emphasizes the urgent need for the Senate to pass his bill and for President Donald Trump to sign it into law.

“Inappropriate and wrong-minded decisions by judges have led to Congress having to restate the obvious,” Issa said, calling his bill “the operational fix to the problem we have now, which is the sabotaging of the federal courts’ ability to function.”

“[They are] slowing down the ability to maintain a secure country,” he said. “People like a city councilman who calls ICE and Border Patrol [agents] doing their job ‘domestic terrorists’ are just one more bag of sand being poured into the gears.”

The stakes are high, Issa explained. The left’s war is not on “crime,” it is on “crime fighters.” While the Democrats are “representing the invaders of America,” he said that “we're representing the defenders of America.”

Until laws like Issa’s are implemented, the left will continue to hide behind a shield of due process, which he said “is a pretext to no process.” Issa warned that Democrats are “trying to force us into a system they broke so that it will stay that way forever.”

Border hawks across America praised Issa’s work on securing the border to the Reporter. One said that “we need to update our conclusion that Democrats oppose deportation because of some high principle.”

“It’s obvious they just don’t want their present and future illegal voters thrown out of the country,” the source said.

Issa’s legislative leadership on the No Censors on Our Shores Act also scored a significant victory when Secretary of State Marco Rubio enacted an even stronger version of the policy. The policy ensures that foreign officials who willfully violate the First Amendment rights of American citizens will face visa denial or deportation.

“It is a privilege to come to the United States, not a right, for a non-citizen, and it is particularly a privilege for diplomats and for foreign leaders to come here for the primary purpose, usually, of seeking aid from America,” he said, adding that he looks forward to Rubio enforcing the law.

Below is a transcript of our interview with Rep. Darrell Issa, lightly edited for clarity.

Washington Reporter:

Congressman Issa, close to home for you, we just saw a San Diego City Councilman call ICE agents “terrorists.” What did you think when you saw that?

Rep. Darrell Issa:

We don't have a single Republican on the city council. An all-Democratic city council thinks it’s accountable only to Democrats, especially the ones who are physically assaulting ICE officers from one end of the country to the other.

Washington Reporter:

How has the City Council evolved in the years in which you've been there to where we're at a point where they're declaring war on ICE?

Rep. Darrell Issa:

The irresponsible behavior of the unaccountable city council isn’t exactly a shock. Where Democrats have absolute power, absolute corruption follows. I hate to call someone un-American, but that's what this comment was. The ultimate un-American thing to do is to to take someone doing their job pursuant to the law and calling them a terrorist. My gut reaction is that this is a guy, who probably never served his country, except as a San Diego City Councilman.

Washington Reporter:

You’ve led the House into passing the No Rogue Rulings Act — a federal judge just ruled that President Trump can’t deport the terrorist who firebombed a group of Jews in Colorado. How does that affect the need for this bill to be law?

Rep. Darrell Issa:

It's the operational fix to the problem we have now, which is the sabotaging of the federal courts’ ability to function. Inappropriate and wrong-minded decisions by judges have led to Congress having to restate the obvious. We’re seeing the left pour cement in the gas tank of our courts. This slows down the ability to maintain a secure country. People like a city councilman who calls ICE and border patrol doing their job “domestic terrorists” are just one more bag of sand being poured into the gears. This is not a war on crime. This is a war on crime fighters. We're representing the defenders of America; they're representing the invaders of America right now. It’s also important to realize that for them, due process is a pretext to no process. Their due process is a do not pass go, go to the system we broke. They're trying to force us into a system they broke so that it will stay that way forever.

Washington Reporter:

We also just saw that Secretary of State Marco Rubio took the No Censors on Our Shores Act and codified it and even took it a step further. What would you like to see happen with that policy now?

Rep. Darrell Issa:

Around the time we were first rolling it out, we saw its potential application against a Brazilian judge who was prosecuting Twitter. I would say that was proof of concept that this really was needed. Now, I’m very much hoping the State Department enforces it. It is a privilege to come to the United States, not a right, for a non-citizen, and it is particularly a privilege for diplomats and for foreign leaders to come here for the primary purpose, usually, of seeking aid from America. Most of the world is there for us when they need us. Whether it's Uber driver from Egypt or a diplomat, we have to set standards.

Washington Reporter:

This morning, you referred to Biden as President Autopen. What is the implication of that from your standpoint, specifically with regards to the death row commutations that came out at the last minute. Do you think there's any chance that any of those would be found to be inadmissible?

Rep. Darrell Issa:

I believe they should have a court challenge. I very much believe that that's the situation we're in, and you have to ask, is an unelected, unnamed staffer able to pardon people, and if not, then those pardons by definition, are not valid.

Washington Reporter:

Last week, you signed on to the HFAC letter to Ursula von der Leyen about concerns with the EU in advance of the Polish elections.

Rep. Darrell Issa:

That letter also had historical precedent; now, Democrats don’t control the White House, so they weren't able to use American tax dollars to meddle in an election and send Democrat hacks all over the world to carry out and defeat people, like the Obama administration did with V15 against Netanyahu.

Washington Reporter:

Almost exactly a year ago, you were jumping out of a plane at Normandy. What reflections do you have as we approach that anniversary again tomorrow?

Rep. Darrell Issa:

I’m just old enough that what happened to me was, as a young veteran — having been a private in the Army — when I went to the VA hospital for the first time for routine work while I was in college, I was seeing World War Two veterans in large volume there in the hospital. This was over 30 years after the war. More than some parade, just being at a veterans hospital and seeing World War Two and Korean veterans is what probably left the longest impression for me of that generation. My father and all of my uncles all served in World War Two. My mom's brothers were in POW camps just a few miles away from each other in World War Two. One was an airman who was shot down, the other was captured when his tank was disabled during the Battle of the Bulge. You kind of grow up in that environment, not that they talked a lot about the war, but you knew enough about what they went through and then came back and continued their lives to have an appreciation more than just the books you read to kind of find out about the war that they fought.

Washington Reporter:

It's better to hear it firsthand.

Rep. Darrell Issa:

It’s also important to note two temporary points on that real quickly. One is the news of the week that was the Army smashing its enlistment goals after a precipitous four year drop that began with the day of the Abbey Gate bomb in Afghanistan; that and the military vaccine mandate were demarcation points where you could see literally moment to moment the plunge in military recruitment. But now we've seen a shattering of the goal. There's only one historical event that occurred since then, which is that President Trump won and leaders like Pete Hegseth were put in charge of the Pentagon. There's no other conclusion you can draw. And the second one is that my constituent, Royce Williams, is going to finally get the Medal of Honor soon for his heroic service during the Korean War.

Washington Reporter:

Congressman, thanks so much as always.