The Democratic Party’s feud with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) escalated again, with Maryland Democrats taking center stage via what critics are lambasting as yet another photo-op.
Most of Maryland’s congressional delegation was locked out of a Baltimore ICE facility earlier this week. The lawmakers included Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks (D., Md.), as well as Reps. Johnny Olszewski, Sarah Elfreth, Glenn Ivey, and Kweisi Mfume (D., Md.).
After being denied access to the facility, they sat outside it. One Maryland lawmaker who was notably absent is Rep. Andy Harris (R., Md.), the Chairman of the Freedom Caucus.
Harris criticized the Democrats’ photo-op, telling the Washington Reporter that “Maryland Democrats staged a sit-in outside a Baltimore ICE facility, but they were nowhere to be found when it mattered most: at the southern border.”
Several of the Democrats in question recently flew to El Salvador to meet with a man the Trump administration accused of human trafficking.
“While dangerous criminals and MS-13 gang members poured into our state, these lawmakers chose political theater over real solutions,” Harris continued. “I will continue to support ICE and their mission to keep Maryland safe.”
Within Maryland, the Democrats’ stunt fell flat. Lauren Arikan, a Delegate representing Harford County, said that she is “embarrassed for them” amidst their “grandstanding.”
Nationally, the stunt even caught the eye of the White House, which criticized the lawmakers for “swoop[ing] in with tears to defend criminals.”
Across the country, Democrats have escalated both their rhetoric and their actions against ICE and against law enforcement officers more broadly.
Rep. LaMonica McIver (D., N.J.) was charged with assault after a visit to a New Jersey ICE facility got out of hand, and Sen. Alex Padilla (D., Calif.) was tackled after he tried to interrupt a press conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.