An active shooter armed with tactical gear and a rifle recently opened fire upon Border Patrol agents as they arrived at a Border Patrol annex facility in McAllen, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley. Law enforcement believes the attack was a purposeful ambush targeting Border Patrol officials. (Getty Images and ICE)
"This resolution represents congressional clarity through a simple question: Do we categorically condemn deadly attacks on federal immigration law enforcement? Or not? I know my Republican colleagues back our agents – it’s the Democrats who need some soul-searching about what they’ve said to encourage and excuse violence in the months they have spent enabling criminal illegals," Issa said on the resolution co-led with fellow California Republican Rep. Ken Calvert.
Assaults on ICE agents have gone up 830% since last year, according to DHS, and there’s been sharp discourse on whether agents should be allowed to mask when conducting operations, as proponents are concerned about doxing of agents and their families.
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Issa told Fox News Digital in an interview that the anti-ICE movement seen in many blue areas, including sanctuary cities, is similar to the anti-police movement seen a few years ago.
MASSACHUSETTS BILL WOULD FORCE ICE AGENTS TO UNMASK
The 10 suspects in the ambush attack on the Prairieland Detention Center in Texas are seen in front of a photo from the scene of the crime. Top row, left to right: Marciela Rueda, Savanna Batten, Joy Gibson, Meagan Morris a.k.a. Bradford Morris, Autumn Hill a.k.a. Cameron Arnold. Bottom row, left to right: Zachary Evetts, Nathan Baumann, Ines Soto, Elizabeth Soto, Seth Sikes. (Johnson County Sheriff’s Office)
"I’ve heard from immigrant communities and people across Washington state about the pervasive sense of fear and alarm created when masked agents descend on a community without any visible identification, and residents have no way of knowing whether they are interacting with legitimate law enforcement," Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, said regarding the recently introduced VISIBLE Act. "Anyone being detained by law enforcement in America deserves to know who is detaining them and why."
The Trump administration continues to pursue its goal of mass deportations while highlighting arrests of those with additional criminal charges and convictions.
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"It’s really sad that the Democrats in the Senate would essentially try to undo what we've been doing for federal judges, for FISA judges, and so on, which is to protect their identity, their home locations, so that they can remain safe," Issa said.
"Law enforcement is certainly accountable and nobody objects to there being some way to differentiate law enforcement officer one from two. But to ask that they be able to be identified is like asking 'Where do they live and what are their family members' names, and what schools do they go to?' The fact is, there's no real purpose in that," he continued. "And I know that my Democrat colleagues know that."
Cameron Arcand is a politics writer at Fox News Digital in Washington D.C. Story tips can be sent to Cameron.Arcand@Fox.com and on Twitter: @cameron_arcand
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/top-gop-lawmaker-demands-soul-searching-from-dems-anti-ice-riots-targeting-law-enforcement