'One Of The Craziest Things I've Ever Heard!': Jim Jordan Grills Witness About Dem Sanctuary Policy

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At Tuesday's House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) questioned Scott Mechkowski, Former ICE New York Field Office Deputy Director.

Transcript

00:00And I will recognize the gentleman from the great state of Ohio, the chairman of the whole

00:04Judiciary Committee, Congressman Jordan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Mikowski, who are all these

00:09people in ICE detention facilities that Democrats went on the street? Who are these folks? Are they

00:14all just apple pie, asylum-seeking folks, or who else might be in there? Sir, thank you for the

00:19question. First and foremost, they're immigration law violators. They violated the basic laws,

00:26immigration laws that are codified by Congress. I'll say it again. So they broke the law? Yes,

00:30sir. That's number first and foremost. They're not a United States citizen. Any of them violent?

00:34In addition to breaking the law, any of them violent people inside these detention centers?

00:38Absolutely, sir. Any of them gang members? Absolutely, sir. Any of them members of MS-13?

00:44Absolutely, sir. Any of them trendy Aragua gang members? Again, sir. Yes. So they're not just

00:49all warm and fuzzy folks that the Democrats want out on the street, right? They're bad guys. Some

00:53of them are bad guys, really bad guys. Some of them are just asylum seekers, but some of them are

00:57really bad guys. Is that fair to say? Yes, sir. It's fair to say. Yeah, because you worked in

01:01these facilities. Is that right? I've worked in them, sir. Yes. You know them better than anyone

01:05in this hearing room. Is that fair to say? Yes, sir. Okay. And before they go to detention,

01:12they have to get apprehended somewhere. They have to get arrested or taken into custody by ICE. Is that

01:17right? Yes, sir. You've got to get them somewhere. Maybe it's on the border. Maybe it's somewhere

01:21else. But you have to get them before you take them to the ICE detention facility.

01:26Yes, sir. Okay. Now, did you ever think that you would see Democrat mayors in all kinds of urban

01:34areas around this country tell and Democrat city councils pass resolutions say don't work with ICE

01:41when they come to apprehend gang members, bad guys, MS-13, violent offenders. Did you ever think

01:48you'd see that? Not here in the United States, sir. But that's exactly what's happening around the

01:53country, isn't it? Yes, sir. I'm sorry. In my home state of New Jersey, that's a fact. Yeah,

02:02it's happened everywhere. New Jersey, Denver, Boston, you name it. And did you ever think

02:06you'd see governors and state legislatures do the same thing and say, you know what? Our whole darn

02:11state is going to be a sanctuary state. Don't work with ICE when they're coming to enforce the law.

02:17Did you ever think you'd see that? No, sir. Did you ever think, did you ever think you would see

02:23judges in their chambers tell the bad guy, hey, talk to his lawyer, hey, slip out the back door

02:32because the ICE agents are coming in the front door to enforce federal law. Did you ever think

02:37you'd see that? No, sir. And did you ever think you would see what happened last week or two weeks

02:44ago, I should say, in New Jersey? Did you ever think you'd see members of Congress engage in that

02:48kind of behavior? Sir, after what I witnessed in 2018, yes, in New York City, I didn't put it past

02:57anybody, but I find that behavior to be absurd. It's unbelievable. Well, in other words, Mr. McCown,

03:03it's gotten so bad, nothing surprises you now with what the left's going to do? Nothing, sir.

03:08I know. And that's where the American people are. And that's why they appreciate what the Trump

03:11administration is doing. Why is it better to arrest people at the jails or at the courthouse,

03:18Mr. McCown, than it is out on the street? Why is that better? I believe my colleague had touched

03:24on it, but it's much safer for the alien, the person involved, and it's also safer for the general

03:32public, most importantly, the officers. The rule of thumb is safety first. It's safer for everyone,

03:39right? Yes, sir. It's safer for everyone, safer for the migrant, safer for law enforcement, safer for

03:45the general public, because you don't want to happen what has happened already because of the

03:49crazy left-wing policies that some of these cities and states, and now judges, have. When you could be,

03:54you could send two, it's cheaper for the taxpayers. Instead of sending six guys to arrest them in the

04:00street, you can send two guys to get him at the courthouse or at the jail. But that side says,

04:07no, we're for the sanctuary policies. We're for making it tougher on law enforcement. We're for

04:12endangering the community. We're for making it tougher on the migrant and going out and arresting

04:16them on the street. Really, one of the craziest things I've ever heard. Would you agree, Mr.

04:22Murkowski? Yes, sir. And to your point, we talk about sanctuary cities. And my colleague was

04:28mentioning, like, deportation officers need to be on the street. Imagine if they were just honored

04:33detainers, they rolled over into custody, and I could send people over there to pick them up

04:38in a facility, not taking the officers away from an enforcement action. Okay, so deportation officers

04:45are very vital. Yes. And, you know, the peaceful transfer from one facility to the other is just

04:51common sense. No, we call that, in economics, we call that opportunity cost, right? Because it's

04:55safer for the officers, safer for the public, safer for the migrant. But it also, when you have to send

05:01six out of them out on the street, there's the opportunity lost that you now have four extra agents

05:05there when they could be out doing other good work protecting the public. That's how dumb,

05:09there's no other word for how dumb this whole sanctuary policy is. Thank you for your work.

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